


New Beginnings

by sinjinh1



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Fix-It, M/M, Mpreg, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-27
Updated: 2014-08-02
Packaged: 2018-02-10 16:15:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2031570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinjinh1/pseuds/sinjinh1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke Snyder and Reid Oliver start their lives together.  There was no train.  Noah has gone to LA.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to include Mpreg. In my universe of Fan Fiction it is normal for a man to be able to get pregnant. Also, this will feature Reid Oliver. If you are a Luke/Noah fan, you will not like this. Just warning you.
> 
> Also there will be characters pop up that are cannon. If you don't know them, ask or check out Soap Central's character profile section. There may also be an explanation of Luke's complicated family tree.

Luke smiled as he watched the couple on the dance floor. A few months ago, Chris Hughes had been on death’s door. Now he was dancing with his new bride. Luke looked at the man he was sharing a table with. Reid Oliver noticed the look his boyfriend was giving him. “What?”

“Nothing,” Luke said as he took Reid’s hand. “I was just thinking about how today is all your fault.”

“I didn’t tell them to get married.”

“No, you didn’t. But you did get Chris his new heart. If it wasn’t for you, he wouldn’t be here today.”

“Well, I am brilliant,” Reid grinned.

“Yeah, I guess you are.”

Reid leaned over and gave him a kiss then he went to steal Jacob from his grandma Lyla. Lyla had returned to Oakdale for her daughter’s wedding. She was thrilled that Katie was marrying Chris. She was also spending time with Margo and Craig, spending time with Casey and Allison and getting to know Johnny and Gabriel. She had told Kim that she had been away too long and wasn’t sure if her family really needed her anymore. Kim told her friend that your family never stopped needing you.

Luke watched as Reid played with Jacob. Reid was still an arrogant doctor. He had proved that when he had gone to Bay City and bullied the chief of cardiology to give him the heart that had been originally destined for Chris. After Chris’ surgery, he had decided to take some time off to spend time with Katie and his parents so Reid won the Chief of Staff position.

Reid and Luke had just bought a house together. Reid said if he was going to stay in this one horse town and whip the hospital into shape, he needed to establish himself in the community. He had asked Luke to move in with him and when they found the house, they both fell in love with it. They had just finished moving in when Chris and Katie’s wedding day arrived. 

Luke thought about everything that had happened since he had met Dr. Reid Oliver. He had broken up with his first love, Noah Mayer. He had helped Henry fund a neurological wing at Memorial. He had traveled to Texas with Reid to help him fight a malpractice suit. He had started falling for the cranky doctor. He had said goodbye to Noah and now he was living his life with Reid.

Holden and Lily were still getting used to the new man in their son’s life. They had both been very fond of Noah and they weren’t sure about Reid and his gruff, sarcastic ways. They knew their son was in love and they knew that Reid was making an effort to fit in with the family. He already had Natalie and Ethan on his side. The two youngest Snyders thought that Reid was funny. Luke credited the time that Reid had spent with Jacob with giving the doctor a tolerance for children that he hadn’t had before.

Reid had encouraged Luke to return to school and complete his degree. Luke had decided that a double major in social work and business would be better for his foundation. With Reid at the hospital for long hours out of the day, Luke’s school schedule hadn’t interfered with their lives. The courses that Luke had taken before he had been expelled had helped him get through most of the general education requirements at Oakdale University so he was able to concentrate on his course work for his majors. His counselor expected that he should be able to graduate within a year and a half.

That had been six months ago and Luke was pleased with his progress. He had also talked to Reid about cutting all ties to Damien. He had asked Reid if his partner thought he should sell Grimaldi shipping. They both agreed they would approach Lucinda about making it a subsidiary of Worldwide. His grandmother had been delighted at the idea of controlling this conglomerate and made sure that Luke remained a major stock holder in the company.

Reid came over with Jacob. “The munchkin was getting tired of all the attention from his long lost grandmother.”

“Reid, Katie said that Lyla had been on tour for the last year and a half,” Luke reminded. “This was the first chance she had to get back to Oakdale. From what Katie said, Lyla’s going to be sticking around for a while though.”

“Because she suddenly realized she had grandchildren who had know idea who she is. I mean, Johnny, Jacob and Gabriel I can understand, but Casey doesn’t even remember her.”

“From what Casey told me, Katie’s father’s death hit her mother very hard. She needed time away to work through her feelings. I know she’s been gone a long time, but she also found an outlet for her emotions with her singing career. Maybe she shouldn’t have stayed away so long, but that was her decision. Katie and Margo don’t seem to resent her for it. I’m not sure about Craig though.”

“Yeah, well, Craig’s lucky he isn’t in jail,” Reid said as he shifted Jacob. 

“I feel sorry for him,” Luke said as Jacob handed him his pacifier. “He’s lost custody of Johnny to Dusty and Janet. Gabriel is barely speaking to him and Lucy went back to Montega. I think if Rosanna hadn’t come back he would be obsessed with getting Johnny back or forcing Gabriel back from New York.”

“The guy needs a hobby.”

Luke laughed. He sat back and watched Reid with Jacob. “You’re really good with him.”

“Yeah, well, him I get. He’s just learning to talk so he can still be reasoned with.”

“You ever thought about having one?”

“What, a kid?” Reid laughed a little. “I’d be a terrible father, and you know it.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Luke argued. “You have changed since you came to Oakdale. At work you’re still the arrogant doctor that nurses fear, but they respect you now. They know that you really care about what happens to the hospital. And you’ve become a great friend to not only Katie but to Chris as well. And you guys couldn’t stand each other when he first came back. Plus there’s the way you are with Jacob, not to mention Natalie and Ethan. I think you’d make a great dad.”

Reid gave him a look. “You trying to tell me something Luke?”

Luke laughed. “No. But I think you should know, in the interest of full disclosure, that it is possible.”

“How long have you known it was possible?”

“Since my last kidney infection. Susan did the test and told me it was possible. She didn’t tell my parents, which was a good thing, since I hadn’t actually come out to them yet.”

“Did you tell Noah?”

Luke shook his head. “We weren’t ready for that. I’m not sure we would have been.”

“And we are?”

“We’re ready to at least talk about it.”

Reid looked at him for a minute. “Not here. Not now. Let me think about this and let me look into a few things.”

“Like what?”

“Like how it would affect you considering your kidney transplant. Luke, even if we decide we want to have kids, if it’s going to affect your health or put your life at risk, we’re not going to do it.”

Luke nodded and Reid leaned over and kissed him. He looked up after they parted. “I think you’re about to lose your playmate.”

Reid looked up and saw Lyla approaching. “Hello Dr. Oliver, Luke.”

“Hello Mrs. Peretti,” Reid said as he looked at Katie’s mother. “Enjoying the reception?”

“Yes. Although my daughter tells me it’s past Jacob’s naptime. I thought I would take him home now.”

“No that’s okay,” Reid said as he stood up. “Luke and I will take him home. You enjoy the rest of the party. Katie would be disappointed if you left before she tossed the bouquet.”

Lyla gave him a look. “And she won’t be disappointed if you leave early?”

“She knows how I am at parties. She’s probably surprised I stayed this long. Come on Luke let’s get this little guy home.”

He started to walk away before Lyla could say anything else. Luke got up and followed him. “She’s pretty mad at you.”

“She shouldn’t be. I just told her she didn’t have to leave her youngest daughter’s reception and take care of the baby. She should be glad.”

“We’ll see. We should probably say goodbye to Katie and Chris though.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Reid said as they turned to walk to the bride and groom. “Chris is coming back to the hospital after the honeymoon. Wonder if he’ll want to be Chief of Staff again.”

“You talked about it when he took his leave of absence,” Luke said. “He said he wanted to be able to spend time with Katie and Jacob. And since Bob wanted to retire to spend more time with Kim, the board had no choice but to appoint you. I’ve talked to some of the board members. No one can see a reason to change that decision just because Chris returns to the hospital staff. They know you’ve been doing an excellent job running the hospital.”

Reid just nodded as they approached Katie and Chris. Luke knew that Reid still doubted if he got the Chief of Staff position on merit or if it was because Chris had bowed out. He had been told that certain board members had wanted to see Bob Hughes’ son take over the hospital. The majority of the board had said that Reid was the right man for the job. Deep down, Reid knew that. Luke just knew what other people didn’t. There was a part of Dr. Reid Oliver that doubted himself. That was the part that helped make him human.

“Katie, Doogie,” Reid said. “We thought we’d take the munchkin home for his nap so your mother can enjoy the rest of the reception with you.”

“That’s very sweet of you, Reid,” Katie said as Chris held her close.

“Yeah, Reid thanks,” Chris said. “I know Katie was looking forward to spending time with Lyla before we left on our honeymoon.”

“We’re happy to do it,” Luke said. “Do you want us to take him to your place, or will he be all right at our place?”

“He should be fine at your place,” Katie said as she took her son. “Be a good boy for Reid and Luke.”

She gave him a kiss and passed him to Chris, who gave him a kiss on the cheek before passing him to Luke. “Either my mom or Lyla will pick him up after the reception.”

“We’ll take good care of him,” Luke promised as Reid got the diaper bag and they headed out.


	2. Chapter 2

They got Jacob’s car seat out of Katie’s car and went to their house. Luke got Jacob settled on their bed while Reid got a beer for himself and a soda for Luke in the kitchen. He was sitting at the kitchen table when Luke joined him. “Jacob’s out like a light”

“Good.”

“So, you want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?” Reid asked as he sipped his beer.

“Talk about what’s bothering you.”

“Nothing’s bothering me.”

Luke just looked at him as he took his soda. “Okay, if you say so.”

Reid sighed. “Luke, I told you nothing’s bothering me. I may be thinking about what we talked about at the reception, but it’s not bothering me, I promise.”

“You’re thinking about it?” Luke asked, trying not to sound hopeful.

“Yeah, I’m thinking about it,” Reid admitted. “And as much as I would like the idea of having a baby with you, I still want to check some things out. Maybe even give you a complete physical.”

Luke grinned. “Didn’t you do that last night?”

“Ha, ha,” Reid said as he put his beer down. “Luke, I told you I wouldn’t do this if it put you at risk.”

Luke nodded and smiled at Reid. “Okay, we’ll do it your way.”

“Glad you agree,” Reid said as he got up and pulled Luke to his feet. “Think we should get some practice in before the munchkin wakes up?”

“Well, I do have a paper due,” Luke teased as Reid kissed him.

They managed to just make it to the couch when they heard Jacob start to cry. Luke laughed. “You know, if we do decide to have a baby, we’re going to have to get used to that.”

“I guess you’re right,” Reid said. He got up and headed to the bedroom. “Munchkin, you have to go back to sleep.”

Luke watched Reid leave then looked at one of the pillows on the couch. He picked up the pillow and put it under his shirt. He stood up and looked down at his stomach. Would this be what he looked like if he got pregnant with Reid’s child? Would Reid still want to be with him if he got fat like this? He still had the pillow in his shirt when Reid came back in. 

“He just wanted his blanket,” Reid said as he looked at Luke. “So that’s what you think you’d look like pregnant?”

Luke just shrugged. Reid went over to him and took the pillow out of his shirt. “Luke, if you get pregnant, you won’t be fat. Yeah, your skin will stretch and you’ll put on a couple of pounds but it won’t be fat. It will be your body making room for our baby. And I think that would be sexy.”

“Really?”

“Really. So do you want to finish what we started before Jacob woke up?”

Luke nodded and they went back to the couch. They were asleep in each other’s arms when they heard the doorbell. Luke rubbed his eyes. “That’ll either be Kim or Lyla.”

Reid got up and put his shirt on. “I’ll get Jacob,” he said as he pulled up his pants and headed to the bedroom. 

Luke pulled his shirt and pants on and went to the door. He opened it and smiled. “Hi Kim.”

“Hi Luke,” she said as she came in. “Chris said you and Reid had brought Jacob home with you.”

“Yeah, we thought it would be better for us to bring him home than make Lyla miss the rest of the reception.”

“We appreciate that,” Kim said as Reid came in with the toddler. “There’s my big boy. You ready to go home and see Grandpa Bob?”

“Who caught the bouquet?” Reid asked he handed Jacob to Kim.

She laughed. “Would you believe Faith caught it? Your father wasn’t too happy about that.”

“I’ll bet he wasn’t,” Luke laughed. “He’s still not happy with the idea of her dating in the first place, even if she’s only dating Parker.”

“Bob was the same way when Frannie started dating,” Kim said as she snuggled Jacob close. “I think it’s a father/daughter thing. Come on Jacob, let’s get you home. Thanks again for watching him.”

“No problem,” Luke said as he and Reid walked her out.

They shut the door and Luke looked at Reid. “Alone at last.”

Reid leaned in to kiss him just as his beeper went off. He sighed and Luke smiled at him. “It’s okay. We talked about this when we moved in together. Go. I have a paper to write anyway.”

Reid kissed him and got ready to go to the hospital. Luke got his books and laptop and went to the couch. He watched Reid leave and started working on his paper. It was late when Reid came home. It turned out someone had tried to beat a train and had been brought in with severe trauma. They had tried to save the young man, but there wasn’t anything Reid or any of the other doctors could do.

He walked into the house and found Luke asleep on the couch, his books strewn all over the coffee table, his laptop on the floor still running. Reid straightened up the books and made sure Luke’s paper was saved before he shut down the laptop. Then he leaned over and gave Luke a kiss on the forehead. Luke stirred and smiled at him as he opened his eyes. “Hey, when did you get back?”

“Just now,” Reid said as he sat beside Luke on the couch. “Did you get a lot of work done?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Luke said as he sat up. “I didn’t mean to work so late, but I just got into my research and the next thing I know I was asleep.”

“Well, I’m pretty tired myself. I think we should both head to bed.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Luke said as they got up and went to bed.

The next day, Luke went to class and Reid went to his office at the hospital and started researching male pregnancy. He looked up the risk factors and was satisfied that most male pregnancies were successful. He then researched the effects of pregnancy on kidney patients. He realized that it wouldn’t put Luke at any more risk than it would if he hadn't had a transplant. 

Reid sat back and thought for a minute. How would he really feel about being a father? He had never given it any sort of consideration at all before he had met Luke. He hadn’t even thought about getting into a relationship before he met Luke. Luke had changed him. Being in Oakdale had changed him. He knew it wasn’t just Luke. It was Bob and Katie and Jacob and the people of Oakdale. They had gotten under his skin and made him a better person. He was still a brilliant doctor, but he had learned how to actually care about his fellow human beings.

So was he ready to become a father? He knew the answer before he asked himself the question. If it was with anyone other than Luke, no he wouldn’t even consider it. But he knew that he wanted this with Luke. He wanted them to start a family together. He just wanted to make sure this was the right time for them. He knew Luke’s degrees were important to him and he didn’t want to force the younger man to put that off again. 

When he got home, Luke wasn’t there yet. Reid walked into the spare bedroom. They had thought about making this room a guest room. The house had four bedrooms, a den, a living room, a family room and a kitchen as well as a basement. They had turned the den into an office for Reid and were thinking about making one of the bedrooms an office for Luke. This bedroom, however, was the closest one to the master bedroom, the perfect place for a nursery.

He had no idea how they would decorate a nursery. He knew he would have to leave that to Luke. He just hoped Katie and Lily stayed out of it. He didn’t want his child’s room to be too cutesy. He may have mellowed, but not that much. There would be no bunny rabbits or anything like that in this room. It would still look like a child’s room, but not too much.

“What are you doing in here?” he heard Luke say from behind him.

“I came in here to get a picture in my head,” Reid said as Luke came up to him.

“What kind of picture?”

“I’m trying to picture what this room would look like with baby furniture in it.”

Luke looked at him for a minute. “Are you serious?”

“I am serious. But I need to make sure this is okay with you. I don’t want you to feel like you need to do this to make me happy. I know how important your degrees are to you. I know how important your foundation is to you. I don’t want you to think that having a baby is going to keep you from completing your goals.”

Luke took Reid’s hand. “I know having a baby will be hard work. We both know that. I have looked into this at Oakdale U. There is a daycare at the university and I can take some classes online if I need to. It won’t interfere with my goals. Do you think it will interfere with your goals?”

“No, it won’t,” Reid said. “I know that I’m an ambitious guy, but unless I accept an offer I can’t refuse, most of my goals have been accomplished right here in Oakdale. I’m Chief of Staff at a hospital that built a neurological wing to my exact specifications. Most doctors never get that in their careers.”

“So you want to do this? You want us to start a family?”

Reid smiled. “Yeah, I want this.”

Luke smiled and kissed him.


	3. Chapter 3

A few weeks later, Chris and Katie came back from their honeymoon and the two couples agreed to have dinner together. Lyla was going to watch Jacob for the evening. They went to Metro and were sitting at their table when Dusty and Janet came in. “Ah the newlyweds,” Dusty said as they approached the table. 

“Hi Dusty, Janet,” Katie said. “Mom was wondering if it would be all right if she took Johnny to the park tomorrow.”

“Is Craig going to be there?” Dusty asked as Janet gave her husband’s hand a squeeze. 

“I’m not sure. If he is there, it will just be to see Johnny. He won’t try to do anything, Mom won’t let him. And neither will Rosanna.”

“Dusty, think about what it was like for you when Craig wouldn’t let you see Johnny,” Luke said as Dusty thought about it.

“Yeah, okay, your mom can come pick up Johnny,” he said as Janet gave him a smile. “He only has half a day at school tomorrow, so I’ll let them know his grandmother is coming to get him. If Craig is going to be there, he has to either stay in the car or wait for them at the park. I’m sorry, but after the last time he tried to run away with Johnny, I had to tell the school he wasn’t allowed inside.”

“I understand,” Katie said as Chris gave her hand a squeeze.

Dusty looked at Luke. “Have you heard from Noah?”

Luke put his hand on Reid’s leg to keep his boyfriend from answering. He knew Noah was still a sore subject for Reid. “No, and I don’t expect to. He’s moved on Dusty, so have I.”

“Yeah, if you say so. Tell your folks I said hi.”

Janet and Dusty walked away and Chris looked at Luke and Reid. “You know, we could always go to Al’s.”

“It’s okay,” Luke said. “Dusty and Noah became pretty good friends when Noah first came to town. He probably only knows Noah’s side of things."

“And according to Mr. Mayer, I seduced my patient’s boyfriend because I have to have control over everything,” Reid sighed.

“Reid, it’s okay,” Luke said as their waitress brought over their drinks. 

“Yeah, well, maybe when we have our baby they’ll stop asking you if you’re going back to Noah.”

Chris and Katie gave them both a look. Reid was oblivious but Luke blushed a little bit. “Guys, is there something you want to tell us?” Katie asked.

“No,” Luke sighed. “Not yet anyway.”

“What?” Reid asked.

“You just said that maybe people would stop asking Luke if he was going back to Noah when you have your baby,” Chris said.

Reid looked at Luke. “Oops.”

“So, what’s going on?” Chris asked.

Reid took Luke’s hand. “You want to tell them.”

“Yeah, sure. Reid and I decided we are ready to start a family. We’ve been trying to get pregnant ever since your wedding.”

“That’s wonderful,” Katie said as she got up to give both of them hugs. Then she laughed. “You know, it would be funny if we wound up being pregnant at the same time.”  
Reid and Chris just looked at each other and shuddered. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all,” Reid mumbled.

“Nope, too late to change your mind now, Dr. Oliver,” Luke said as he gave Reid a kiss. “I can see the gears turning. Katie’s already planning the baby shower. And you better be glad Casey and Allison are in Carbondale or she’d recruit Ali to help.”

“Wait, you’re not even pregnant yet. How can she be planning a baby shower?”

“My wife is very resourceful,” Chris said as he put his arm around Katie. “Trust me she’s defiantly in planning mode.”

They laughed as Reid pretended to beat his head against the table and their food arrived.

When Reid and Luke got home that night, Luke laughed. “What’s so funny?”

“I just thought about what it would be like if Katie and I got pregnant at the same time. I’m sure you and Chris would make up emergencies at the hospital to get away from the overload of hormones.”

Reid pulled Luke close, “I would never make up an emergency just to get away from out of control hormones. I have a staff that can do that for me.”

Luke laughed as Reid kissed him and they went back into their bedroom. The next morning, Reid reached over for Luke and came up with empty sheets. He slowly sat up and listened. He heard his boyfriend in the bathroom and got out of bed. He stood at the door of the bathroom and winced a little. “You okay?”

Luke looked up from the toilet. “Do I look okay?”

“Sorry,” Reid said as he got a wash cloth and wet it in the sink. “Silly question. When did you start feeling sick?”

“About an hour ago,” Luke said as he leaned into Reid’s touch. “I think it was something I ate.”

“We had the same thing and I don’t feel sick,” Reid observed. “You sure it’s not something else?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. It’s pretty early in the morning though.”

Luke just looked at him. “You don’t think…”

“I don’t know for sure. It’s not my specialty and I’m not trusting something as important as this to one of those cheap home pregnancy tests. I’ll set up an appointment for you with Dr. Kane. Do you have classes this morning?”

Luke shook his head as he felt sick again. Reid waited until he was finished again and gave him a glass of water. “I’ll get you some crackers and get you back in bed then I’ll call the doctor. Chris is coming back today. He can cover for me this morning.”

“Reid, it’s probably nothing,” Luke said as Reid helped him up. “Just because we both had the same thing last night doesn’t mean I didn’t get food poisoning. Besides, we really haven’t been trying that long. I doubt I’m pregnant yet.”

“Humor me,” Reid said as he led Luke back to bed. “Just lay down and I’ll get the crackers. If you feel like you have to throw up again, let me know.”

Luke nodded and closed his eyes. Reid watched him for a minute then he went to the kitchen and got some crackers. He grabbed his phone and called Dr. Kane and Chris before he went back to their bedroom. He sat on the bed beside Luke. “Okay, I brought you some crackers. And the doctor can see you in about an hour.”

Luke opened his eyes. “I’m not sure I can eat anything.”

“Try for me.”

Luke sat up a little and took the crackers from Reid. “You know, you’re going to feel silly if this is just food poisoning.”

“Or I’ll be the happiest man on the planet because we’ll know that you’re carrying our child.”

Luke laughed. “Who would have thought a year ago that you would be saying I made you the happiest man on the planet.”

“Not me that’s for sure. Of course, I never thought I was going to stay in this town either. I thought I’d come up here, tell you I wasn’t going to help you boyfriend and go back to Dallas. You ruined me Luke Snyder.”

“I ruined you,” Luke grinned. “I think Katie and Jacob had a small role to play in the corruption of Dr. Reid Oliver.”

Reid thought about it for a minute. “Yeah, probably. We better get dressed and get you to your appointment.”

Luke nodded and they got up and got dressed. They were quiet on the ride to the hospital. Neither of them wanted to talk about the possibility that Reid was wrong and Luke wasn’t pregnant. Just because Luke had gotten sick didn’t mean it was morning sickness. He hadn’t felt ill before that morning. It could just as easily be food poisoning or the flu. Or worse, Luke could have developed another kidney infection. He tried not to think about that possibility as they pulled into the hospital parking lot.

Luke signed in at the nurse’s station and they sat waiting for their appointment. Reid stayed by Luke’s side as he was examined. Dr. Kane smiled at them. “I think there is a distinct possibility that you are pregnant, Mr. Snyder. However, I won’t know for sure until I get the test results back. It will only be a couple of hours. Where can I reach you?”

“We’ll be in my office,” Reid said as Luke finished buttoning up his shirt.

“All right, I’ll call you there, Dr. Oliver,” he said as he got up and left the exam room.

They went up to Reid’s office and Reid got himself a cup of coffee. “Well, it won’t be long now.”

“No, I guess not.”

Reid looked at Luke. “You’re not having second thoughts are you?”

“No, of course not,” Luke said as he took Reid’s hand. “I think I’m just nervous. And I’m scared that he’s going to call and say I’m not pregnant. This is the first time since we’ve been trying that we’ve thought it was a very real possibility that I’m pregnant and I don’t want to think about finding out otherwise.”

“And it made it a little more real when we told Katie and Chris last night. We haven’t even told your parents that we’re trying to get pregnant yet.”

“Yeah, we should probably do that.”

Reid wrinkled his nose. “Do we have to? Your dad hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you,” Luke grinned. “Reid, you have to understand. My parents were each others first real loves. And, yeah, they’ve had their share of ups and downs, but they always find their way back to each other. They just have to understand that there isn’t always a happily ever after with your first love. Sometimes it’s with your second love. Even if he can be an arrogant, egotistical…”

Reid kissed him before he could finish. “I get the picture.”

The phone rang on Reid’s desk. He picked it up and talked for a few minutes. When he hung up, he looked at Luke. “Well, it looks like we’re going to have to tell your parents after all. Either that, or we could let them figure it out when you go into labor.”

Luke sat there for a second then he smiled. “I’m pregnant?”

“That’s what the doctor said.”

Luke got up and embraced Reid. “We’re going to have a baby.”

“Yeah, we are,” Reid said as he pulled back. “You know what this means? As soon as Katie finds out, she’s going to be planning your baby shower.”

“Our baby shower,” Luke corrected. “I think, though, before we tell her and Chris, we need to tell my parents.”

Reid groaned. “All right. See when they’re available for dinner and we’ll have them over to the house. I’m not sure if the rugrats should come or not.”

“They’re going to find out eventually. Besides, if we get the kids on our side, it will help Mom and Dad realize that you really are a permanent part of my life.”

“The fact that we’re having a baby should clue them in.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Do you want me to take you home?” Reid asked as he saw Luke start to get pale again. “You look like you’re going to be sick again.”

“I think I am,” Luke said as he started to sit down.

Reid stopped him. “Here, lay down on my couch. Kane said he was going to call in a couple of scripts for you. One’s a pre-natal vitamin and the other is for the morning sickness. I’ll go down and get them then I’ll take you home.”

Luke nodded and closed his eyes. He heard Reid open the door and leave the office. He felt so tired, so he let himself drift off to sleep as he put his hand on his stomach.  
Reid went down to the pharmacy and picked up Luke’s prescriptions. He was heading back upstairs when he found himself stopping off by the nursery. He stood at the window watching the babies sleep for a few minutes and smiled. In just a few short months, his and Luke’s baby would be sleeping in that nursery. He shook his head. Yep, Oakdale had defiantly corrupted him.


	4. Chapter 4

That night, Luke was setting the table when the doorbell rang announcing the arrival of his family. Reid hadn’t returned from the hospital yet and he knew his parents weren’t going to understand that. They were used to Noah being there whenever they arrived. “Well, they’re just going to have to get used to it, right baby,” Luke said as he rubbed his stomach and walked to the door.

He smiled as he opened the door. “Hi guys, come on in.”

“Hi Luke!” Ethan said as he ran into the house.

“Hey big guy,” Luke laughed as he watched his little brother jump onto the couch. “Hey Nat.”

“Hey Luke,” she said as she hugged her brother. “Where’s Reid?”

“He’ll be home soon. Come on in and I’ll get you guys some drinks.”

“Why isn’t Reid home yet?” Holden asked as he followed Luke into the kitchen. Lily and Faith were making sure the kids were entertained in the living room.

“He had to finish up at the hospital,” Luke said as he handed his father a beer.

“He knew we were coming over. He couldn’t have gotten off early?”

“Dad, he’s the Chief of Staff. He can’t always leave on time. Emergencies come up.”

“Didn’t Chris start back today?”

Luke sighed. He knew where this was going. “Yes Dad. But Chris is not Chief of Staff. He might be able to get home at a more reasonable hour than Reid. And before you say anything about how it should have been Chris who got the job, I will remind you again, that Chris turned the job down. Bob was willing to tell the board to appoint them co-chiefs but Chris said he wanted to take a leave of absence. And after everything he had been through, no one could blame him.”

Holden bowed his head. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m not sure what I would have done if I had gone through what Chris did. It was bad enough when you needed to have a kidney transplant. I can’t imagine what it would be like waiting for a new heart.”

“Believe me, it wasn’t something that was easy to watch. If Reid hadn’t gone to Bay City…”

“Yeah I know. Listen, Luke, I know you think your mother and I haven’t been fair to Reid.”

Luke gave him a look. “You think?”

“Okay, we haven’t been fair to him. We liked Noah very much. He was practically a member of this family and it was a bit of a shock to find out that not only had you broken up with him, you were dating his doctor.”

“Noah was the one who pushed me away, Dad.”

“I know. I also know that I was the one who pushed your mother away when Damien came back. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I understand that Dad. But you and Mom have to accept that Reid and I are in a committed relationship. We love each other very much. We thought you would have started to accept that when we bought this house.”

“I think we had. It’s just taking a little more time, I guess. So what’s with the dinner tonight?”

“Let’s wait until Reid gets home, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” Holden said as Luke finished getting drinks for his family. “Here, let me help you with these.”

“Thanks Dad.”

They took the drinks out and joined the family in the living room. By the time Reid got home, Lily and Luke had gone into the kitchen to get dinner on the table. “Hello everyone,” Reid said as he came in and put his bag down.

“Hi Reid,” Natalie and Ethan said from the game they were playing.

“Hey Reid,” Faith said as she got up and went over to him. “I was wondering if it would be okay if I did some volunteer work at the hospital.”

“Yeah, sure, Faith,” Reid said as he looked at the teenager. “I don’t think there should be any problem with it as long as it’s okay with your parents.”

Holden looked at Faith. “Since when do you want to volunteer at the hospital?”

“I’ve been thinking about becoming a nurse like Allison and Aunt Meg,” Faith explained. “I talked to Aunt Meg when we went to visit her and Grandma and she said she thought it would be a good idea if I volunteered at the hospital and got a feel for how things worked there. Parker’s doing some file work at the police station to get a feel of what police work would be like before he starts at the police academy. He thought volunteering at the hospital would be a good idea as well.”

“I’ll have to talk to your mother, but I don’t think it will be a problem. I just wish you had talked to us first.”

“I was going to talk to you about it tonight,” Faith explained. “Then Luke called and asked us to come over for dinner. I decided that it would be a good time to ask Reid and you guys at the same time.”

Holden just nodded as Lily and Luke brought the food to the table. They sat everything down before they went to join the others in the living room. “Hello Reid,” Lily said as she put an arm around Holden.

“Hello Lily,” Reid said as he gave Luke a look. “I’m glad you could come tonight.”

“I was just telling Mom that we should have them over more often,” Luke said as Faith raised an eyebrow.

Reid cleared his throat. “Oh, I’m sure they’ll be coming over more often after tonight. Ethan, Natalie, you two ready to eat?”

“Yep!” Ethan said as he abandoned his game. 

Natalie just shook her head as she got up. “Kids.”

Everyone laughed as she followed Ethan to the table. They sat down and started to eat. They found out how Ethan and Natalie were doing in school. Faith told Lily about her desire to volunteer at the hospital. Lily thought it was a good idea, but expressed Holden’s concern that she would have rather them talked about it privately before asking Reid.

“But Mom, Reid is part of the family now,” Faith protested.

“Faith’s right Mom,” Luke said as he looked at his mother. “Reid is a part of this family. And he will always be part of this family.”

“Sweetie, I understand that Reid is your boyfriend…” Lily started.

“He’s more than just my boyfriend, Mom. You’d know that if you could just get past my relationship with Noah.”

Lily looked at Reid. “Reid, I know that you are the person who my son is in love with. And I’m trying to get over the fact that Noah is no longer a part of his life. It’s hard because Noah was such an important part of this family’s life. You have to understand where I’m coming from.”

“I do understand where you’re coming from, Lily,” Reid said as he put his napkin down. “Now, I want you to understand where I’m coming from. I’m in love with your son. Before I met Luke, that wasn’t something I had ever told anyone before. I had never even contemplated being in a relationship with someone, let alone buying a house with him. Luke changed all that for me. He brought out something in me that I didn’t even know existed. I love him more than I know how to describe. I’m not someone who easily admits my feelings. Most of the staff at the hospital will tell you just how gruff I can be. You saw what I was like when I was treating Gabriel Carras. I’m not saying I’m perfect. Although, I am a perfect surgeon. Your son and I have started a life for ourselves and in a few months…”

He looked at Luke and stopped. “You know what. I shouldn’t be the one to tell you this, Luke should.”

Holden looked at his son. “What should you be the one to tell us Luke?”

Luke looked from his parents to his partner and back again. “Reid and I came to a very important decision a few weeks ago. We decided that we were at the point in our relationship where we wanted to go to the next level. So we decided that we wanted to try to have a baby.”

“A baby?” Lily said surprised. “Luke, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I assume you’re asking that question because you’re concerned for Luke’s health,” Reid said as he gave her a look. “Let me assure you, before we made this decision, I made sure that this would not put a burden on Luke’s health. If I thought for one minute that going through a pregnancy would be detrimental to Luke’s health, I would have said so and we never would have started trying.”

“Mom, Dad, we want to become parents,” Luke said as he took Reid’s hand. “And we’re going to be soon. We found out today that I’m pregnant.”

Faith grinned. “I’m going to be an aunt?”

Luke smiled. “Yeah, Faith, you’re going to be an aunt.”

“That’s so cool! I’ve got to call Parker.”

She got up from the table and grabbed her phone to call her boyfriend. Luke looked at Natalie and Ethan. “What do you guys think about me and Reid having a baby?”

“Who’s going to have the baby?” Natalie asked.

“I am.”

“But you’re a boy,” Ethan said.

Luke smiled. He knew it would be hard to explain to a six year old and a ten year old. “Yes I am, but there are boys who can have babies, and I’m one of them. Usually if a boy has a baby he has a boyfriend and there is no girl like Mom.”

“So what does that make us?”

“Well, you and Aaron will be the baby’s uncles and Faith, Natalie and Abigail will be the baby’s aunts.”

“Like Uncle Jack?”

Luke looked at Holden and Lily. They had always referred to Jack as Uncle Jack in front of Natalie and Ethan. Neither of them realized yet that Jack was actually their cousin and not Holden’s brother. “Yeah, like Uncle Jack.”

“Cool,” Ethan said. “Can I go play?”

“Sure sweetie,” Lily said as her youngest left the table. “Natalie, do you want to be excused?”

“In just a minute Mom,” she said. “I have a question for Luke and Reid.”

“What’s on your mind munchkin?” Reid asked.

“Can I babysit?” she grinned.

“We’ll talk to Mom and Dad about it, okay?” Luke said.

“Okay,” she shrugged as she left the table.

Luke looked back at his parents. “So, say something.”

“What about school?” Holden asked softly.

“I’ll still be able to go to school. It’s like I told Reid, the university has online courses I can take when I can’t go to class anymore. And once the baby gets here, there’s a daycare on campus. This is what we both want. We want to start a family together.”

“What about your job as Chief of Staff, Reid? How will having a baby interfere with that?”

“I imagine my becoming a father will interfere with my job about as much as becoming a father interfered with Bob Hughes’ job,” Reid said as he locked eyes with Holden. “Bob and Kim raised Chris after Bob became Chief of Staff. He ran the hospital and she ran WOAK. Now I wasn’t always Doogie Hughes’ biggest fan, but you have to admit that he’s a pretty good doctor and a pretty decent human being. Do you think your son and I are any less capable of raising a child than Bob and Kim? Or you and Lily?”

“I never said that,” Holden said as he held his hand up. “I just wanted to make sure that this was something you had really thought about. I wanted to make sure that you had considered all the possibilities and obstacles you will face.”

“We have Dad,” Luke said softly. “We want this. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have even tried to get pregnant. We were hoping you’d be happy for us.”

Holden and Lily looked at each other. After a minute, they looked at their son and his partner. “Of course we’re happy for you sweetheart,” Lily said. “We were just surprised to hear that you had made such an important decision without talking to us about it.”

“The last I checked, Luke was an adult,” Reid said as he tried to keep his frustration in check. He never would understand why Holden and Lily insisted on treating Luke like he was still a child. “I don’t think that he has to run the major decisions of his life by his parents. The only person he needs to consult is me. We’ve told you that we decided, as a couple, to have a baby. I don’t think that was a decision that he needed to run by Mommy and Daddy.”

“Reid, you have asked us to respect the fact that you are in our son’s life,” Holden said as he sat up in his chair. “You have told us that we are going to be grandparents. We are not questioning the fact that you two decided as a couple to have a baby. We are just saying that it would have been nice to know this was a possibility before you sprung it on us tonight. For one thing, you’re not the one who’s going to have to field the ‘where do babies come from’ question from my six year old when we get home.”

Luke laughed out loud and looked at his parents. “Are you serious? Your biggest problem with not being told in advance that we were planning a family is that you’re on the spot for Ethan’s questions?”

Lily laughed a little. “I guess he’s right, Holden. I know I was thinking about how to answer Ethan’s questions. Because I couldn’t think of anything more precious than a baby, and I think the idea of being a grandmother is scary and thrilling at the same time. Just let me be there when you tell Mother she’s going to b a great-grandmother.”

“I will,” Luke said as he smiled at his mother. Then he looked at his father. “Dad? Are you okay with this?”

“I was concerned that you hadn’t thought this through,” Holden said softly. “So many things have happened in your life that you haven’t thought through. The student government election at Oakdale U comes to mind. But Reid has relived some of my concerns. And I think it will be interesting to see the great Dr. Oliver change a diaper or two.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know that Jacob never gave me any complaints regarding my diaper changing skills when I lived with Katie.”

“That’s because Jacob couldn’t talk,” Luke teased.

Reid just gave him a look. They sat at the table for a few more minutes talking about the baby and Lily and Holden made an effort to get to know Reid a little better. Lily helped Luke clean up and Holden let Reid lead him to the guest room they had decided would become the nursery. “Obviously we’re not going to decorate it yet,” Reid told Holden. “I’m not normally a superstitious man. I think it’s ridiculous. But I’m not stupid enough to tempt fate. Besides, we kind of promised Katie she could help Luke with that.”

“You told Chris and Katie?” Holden said as he gave the younger man a look.

“Not intentionally. We were at dinner with them and I opened my big mouth. When we were waiting for Luke’s test results today, we decided that regardless of the outcome, we would tell you and Lily that we were trying to get pregnant.”

“You did the test?”

“No, I took Luke to see our OB at Memorial. He’s handled quite a few male pregnancies in Chicago and came highly recommended. I knew better than to try and run that test myself.”

Holden nodded and they went back into the living room. By the time Luke’s family got ready to go home, Luke was ready to follow Ethan to bed. Reid led him to the bedroom and helped him get ready for bed before he locked up and made sure all the lights were off. After he joined Luke in the bed, he watched his boyfriend sleep. There were times he couldn’t believe that he was here. 

He couldn’t believe he had come to Oakdale in the first place. He couldn’t believe he had stayed after his one month sentence. He couldn’t believe he had started caring about the people here. First Katie and Jacob then Luke. What had happened to the great Reid Oliver? Reid smiled as he closed his eyes. He had fallen in love. And it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.


	5. Chapter 5

Two months later, Luke was cursing the person who had coined the term morning sickness. He had switched prescriptions twice and while he was still bothered with morning sickness at all hours of the day, it wasn’t as bad as it had been before he had gotten not only a stronger medication but a tea that Janet swore by while she was pregnant.

It was the end of his first trimester and he had been told the morning sickness should taper off soon. Of course he had also been told that some people have morning sickness throughout their entire pregnancies. He had also noticed he was starting to show. He didn’t think that was normal yet either.

He stood looking at his reflection in the mirror when Reid came out of the shower. “And I thought I was the egotistical one.”

“I’m showing,” Luke complained.

Reid tossed the towel he had been drying his hair with. He walked over to his boyfriend. He examined Luke’s stomach. “I don’t see anything.”

Luke took his hand and placed it on the slight curve in his stomach. “Here.”

“Luke, you can barely tell there’s anything there.”

“But you can tell something’s there. It’s too soon for me to be showing, isn’t it?”

Reid looked at him for a second. “You have your ultrasound today. I’m sure Dr. Kane will tell you that the baby is developing just fine. He’ll probably tell you to stay away from my junk food though.”

“Ugh, don’t mention food.”

“Still feeling sick?”

“It’s not as bad as it was.”

“Well, hopefully it will taper off soon. We better get ready if we’re going to get to your appointment before you have to go to class.”

Luke nodded and they got dressed. After they got to their appointment, Reid tried not to take over for the doctor. He knew this wasn’t his specialty and that he should stay hands off for Luke’s sake, as well as the baby’s. It was just hard for him to relinquish control to someone else. He watched as Dr. Kane started the ultrasound. There was a long silence that made Luke nervous. He looked over at Reid, who took his hand and gave him a small smile. “Okay, gentlemen, I’m ready,” Dr. Kane said.

“Is something wrong with the baby?” Luke asked softly.

The doctor turned the screen so they could see it. “Not as far as I can tell. There’s your baby.”

Reid grinned as Luke started to cry a little. Before they could say anything, the doctor moved the probe. “And there’s your other baby.”

“What?” Reid asked as his mouth fell open.

“Two babies?” Luke asked shocked.

“You’re having twins,” the doctor said as he printed them some pictures. “And this would help explain why you’re already starting to show, not to mention the persistent morning sickness.”

Luke just nodded. Reid cleared his throat. “Are twins going to put a strain on Luke?”

“I don’t see why they would. Luke is healthy. The babies are developing nicely. He hasn’t had any problem with his kidney so far and I don’t expect that he will. Obviously twins do change the dynamic and Luke is a higher risk than he was before, but not because I’m concerned for his health. Twins automatically fall into a higher risk category. I’m sure as long as you continue to take care of yourself and don’t overdue it, you will have two healthy babies in six and a half months.”

“Thank you doctor,” Luke said as the doctor handed him the pictures.

The doctor left them alone as Luke sat up to get dressed. “Can you believe it?” he said as he put his shirt on.

“It is an interesting development,” Reid said as he looked at the pictures. “Good thing we have two extra guest rooms.”

“What do you mean?”

“They could be fraternal. We could be having one boy and one girl. It will be okay for them to share a room while they’re babies, but when they get older, we’ll have to put them in separate rooms.”

“Yeah, you’re right. You know, Katie’s already going crazy planning for one baby. Can you imagine how nuts she’s going to get over two?”

“Yeah it’s going to get interesting,” Reid said as Luke finished getting dressed. “You feel up to going to class?”

“Not really,” Luke admitted. “But I don’t have much of a choice. It will be okay though. I only have a couple of classes today. After that, I can head home and get some rest.”

“When do you want to tell your parents its twins?” Reid asked as they left the doctor’s office.

Luke picked up his appointment card from the nurse before he answered. “Grandma’s coming home from DC tomorrow and we’re all expected to go out to the farm. We can tell them then.”

Reid nodded and took Luke home so he could get ready for his classes. Reid headed back to the hospital.

The next evening, everyone gathered at the farm to welcome home Emma. She had stayed in DC for almost a year with Meg to make sure her youngest daughter got the care she needed. She hadn’t been happy when Meg allowed Emily to adopt Eliza, but she understood. Meg wasn’t able to be a good mother to her daughter. She wasn’t ready to resume that role in her daughter’s life and once she was, Eliza would only know Emily as her mother. It only made since that Emily become Eliza’s mother legally.

Now Emma was back in Oakdale and ready to resume her role in her family’s life. She smiled when she saw Luke and Reid come in. She hadn’t had a chance to get to know the new man in her grandson’s life before she had left with Meg, but she could see that Reid made Luke happy and was what was important to her. “Luke, sweetheart, look at you,” she said as she hugged her grandson. “You look wonderful.”

“Thanks Grandma,” Luke smiled. “You look wonderful too. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too my sweetheart. Now, introduce me to the man who has put that big smile on your face.”

Luke laughed a little. “Grandma, this is Dr. Reid Oliver. Reid, this is my grandmother, Emma Snyder.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Snyder,” Reid said as he shook her hand.

“Oh, you’re a charmer,” Emma smiled. “Come on, let’s get some tea and you can tell me all about yourself.”

They went to the kitchen table and Luke smiled at Reid as Emma got the tea. “She thinks you’re charming.”

“Yeah, well, she really hasn’t got to know me yet. Once she does, she’ll probably change her mind.”

Emma came back to the table and gave them both a glass of tea. Reid and Luke told Emma about their house and that Luke was pregnant. They were going to wait to tell the whole family that they were expecting twins. Jack and Carly arrived with Sage and their baby Brad. “Oh let me see that precious baby,” Emma said as she got up.

Carly had given birth to a baby boy three months ago. She and Jack had decided that they would name him after Brad and Katie was thrilled to introduce Jacob to his cousin. Katie understood how important it was for Jack to be able to name his son after his brother. Now Emma was cuddling her new great-nephew as Holden and Lily arrived with their kids. Faith and Parker came in just behind them along with Katie, Chris and Jacob.

They sat down for dinner and Emma told them how Meg was doing. Emma explained that Meg was starting to receive treatment as an outpatient. When Josh had learned how far over the edge his ex-wife had gone, he flew to DC to support her recovery. The former couple was rediscovering the love they thought they had lost and Meg was enjoying the stability of having him and Iva in her life. She wasn’t sure she would become a nurse again, but she knew she wasn’t going to try to get involved with a man like Craig, Paul or Damian again.

Luke lowered his head when Emma mentioned Damian. He felt guilty for what had happened to his family when Damian had come back to town. If he hadn’t been trying to get to know his birth father, Damian wouldn’t have been able to hurt Meg or Lily. If he hadn’t confided in Damian, Mason wouldn’t have gotten fired and Noah wouldn’t have gotten hurt. Of course, if that hadn’t happened, Damian wouldn’t have told Luke to convince Reid that he had dirt on the doctor and they would have never met.

Emma saw the look on her grandson’s face. “Luke, sweetheart, what happened to your Aunt Meg wasn’t your fault. Meg was vulnerable to Damian and everything that happened to her after she met him was her responsibility. It’s taken her a long time to admit that to herself. She spent a lot of time blaming Damian, Paul and Emily for her problems. And I have to admit, so did I. But she never, ever, blamed you. You can’t control Damian’s actions.”

Luke nodded as Reid took his hand. “Thank you Mrs. Snyder,” Reid said. “I’ve been telling him for months that he’s not responsible for the actions of others. Sometimes I think your grandson believes he has to take everyone’s problems as his own.”

Emma smiled. “Luke’s always been like that. He’s always tried to make sure others were taken care of. He reminds me of Holden in that sense.”

Emma looked away when she said that and Reid took notice. He had never talked to Luke about the circumstances surrounding Luke’s birth. He could tell by the look on Emma’s face that she wished that Holden was Luke’s biological father. Reid thought about how old Luke was and what kind of testing could have been done to prove paternity. He pushed those thoughts aside when he heard Lily ask Luke how his doctor’s appointment went the day before.

Luke smiled at Reid. “It went well. We had a sonogram done. Would you like to see it?”

“I’d love to,” Lily grinned as Reid got the picture out and passed it to his boyfriend’s mother. “Oh Luke.”

Lily had seen enough sonograms of her own children to realize that there was something different about this one. She looked at her son, who just nodded. “What is it?” Holden asked.

“Well Dad, Reid and I found out yesterday that you’re not just getting one grandchild,” Luke said as he looked at his father.

Lily passed the sonogram to her husband as Holden looked at Luke. “Twins?”

Luke just nodded and everyone started to congratulate the couple. They spent the rest of the evening talking about the babies and catching up with Emma. That night, as Reid locked up the house, he thought about the look on Emma’s face when she said Luke reminded her of Holden. He went into the bedroom and smiled as Luke lay sleeping. He knew he would ask Luke about the circumstances surrounding his birth, it just wouldn’t be tonight.


	6. Chapter 6

Luke and Reid had made the decision that at their next sonogram appointment they would find out the sexes of the twins. They only told Katie because she was helping them decorate the nursery. They decided that they would let their family know at the baby shower. Of course Reid wasn’t looking forward to the baby shower. He thought it was silly but Katie was insisting they have one. And since she and Chris had found out that they were expecting a baby just as Luke was entering his six month, it was easier to let her get her way. What no one counted on was a prison break.

Luke had just left Oakdale U and was heading to Al’s for a milkshake when his phone rang. “Hello?”

“Luke, its Jack. Where are you?”

“On my way to Old Town. Why?”

“Can you come by the station?”

“Jack, what’s going on? Has something happened to Reid?”

“No, he’s fine as far as I know. But you may want to have him meet you down here.”

“Yeah, sure,” Luke said as he rubbed his stomach. The twins were starting to pick up on his agitation. He hung up and called Reid. He told his boyfriend that Jack wanted them to come down to the police station. Reid said he would meet Luke there. Luke got to the police station and saw Holden waiting for him. “Oh God, has something happened to Mom?” he asked as he looked at his father.

“No, Luke, your mother’s fine,” Holden said as he went over to his son. “Jack called me and asked me to meet you and Reid here.”

Luke just nodded and looked over at Jack. Jack sighed, “Why don’t we go into the interview room while we wait for Reid.”

Holden nodded and led Luke to the interview room. A few minutes later Reid arrived. “What’s going on?” he asked as he sat beside Luke.

“We just got word from Statesville Prison that there has been a prison break,” Jack said as he looked at Luke. “They’re not sure how it happened, but Damian has escaped.”

“What about Colonel Mayer?” Holden asked as he tried to assess just how much danger his son was in. 

“Winston Mayer was in a different cell block from Damian. As far as we can tell, they never had contact with each other.”

“Do they know where Damian is heading?”

Jack shook his head. Reid looked at the two older men. “Okay, clue me in here. Damian Grimaldi has escaped from prison. I get that. Just tell me how much danger you think Luke is in.”

“Damian won’t hurt me,” Luke said softly.

Holden looked at his son. “We don’t know that Luke. You have been kidnapped before because of Damian. Your life has been put in jeopardy, not to mention what he’s done to your mother and Meg. He may never have actually physically harmed you but he has caused you emotional harm your entire life.”

“I know that, Dad, but what am I supposed to do? I can’t exactly go into hiding right now.”

“Luke, no one is saying you should go into hiding,” Jack said as he held his hand up. “I just wanted you to know that he had escaped and the state police are doing everything in their power to find him before he does anything.”

“You can’t promise that, Jack,” Luke said as Reid looked at him.

“Luke you need to keep calm for your sake and the babies,” Reid said as he took Luke’s hand. Then he looked at Jack and Holden. “You two know way more about Damian Grimaldi than I do. Do you think he is coming here?”

Jack looked at Holden then sighed, “It’s possible.”

“All right, what should we do to keep Luke safe without causing him too much stress?”

“Right now I would say keep to a normal schedule. If we keep Luke locked up in your house, Damian will know that we’re looking for him. He is more likely to try to approach Luke if he is isolated. Going to classes, going to the foundation, keeping appointments and dinner dates will help keep Damian from approaching Luke.”

“You’re sure?”

“Not really,” Jack admitted. “Which is why we’re going to have a patrol car making regular passes by your house. We’re going to make sure that you and Luke are as safe as we can make you.”

“Me? Why would Damian come after me?”

Luke sighed. “When Damian came to town the last time, Noah was kidnapped. Damian didn’t do it but this girl who is somehow related to the Grimaldi family and her partner had Noah kidnapped. It’s a long story but they thought Damian had taken her rightful inheritance from her and she decided the best way to do that was to produce an heir.”

“She didn’t care that Luke is gay,” Holden said. “Once she and her partner had both Luke and Noah she wanted Luke to get her pregnant.”

“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen,” Reid said as he got up. “I’m going to take Luke home. You are going to make sure that Lily and your kids are protected and Jack is going to make sure this guy gets put back where he belongs. What we won’t do is live in fear. It’s not good for any of us. Come on Luke.”

Before Jack or Holden could protest, Reid had helped Luke up and led him out of the police station. Jack looked at Holden. “Well, he certainly let’s you know what’s what.”

“Yeah, and I don’t think Luke would have him any other way,” Holden laughed then he sighed. “You know Jack I thought when Damian went to prison that would be the last time we would ever have to deal with him. Now things are finally back on track with me and Lily, Luke’s pregnant and he’s happy. Of course now would be when Damian would escape from prison and come back into our lives. This isn’t the first time that I have wished Damian wasn’t Luke’s biological father. I better go. I’ve got to tell Lily what’s going on.”

“Yeah, I’m going to set up those patrols,” Jack said as they both stood up. “Do you want me to have a couple of cars go by your house and the farm?”

“It would probably be a good idea. I’m sure once Lucinda finds out what’s going on she’s going to insist on hiring private security.”

“I just hope John’s able to keep her in Maryland and out of this investigation.”

“Who knows,” Holden said as he headed to the door. “I’ll call you later.”

Jack just nodded as Holden left the police station.

Luke and Reid were quiet on the ride home. When they got there, Luke headed towards the bedroom and Reid went to make him some tea. He grabbed a beer for himself and brought the tea to Luke. He didn’t find Luke in their bedroom. He went into the nursery and saw Luke sitting in the rocking chair they had just put in the room. “Luke, here, you need to drink this.”

Luke just reached for the mug as he stared at the cribs Chris and Reid had set up. Reid knelt beside him. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Luke just sat there. Reid moved into Luke’s line of sight. “You need to talk to me Luke.”

“What’s there to talk about?” Luke asked softly. “My father is out to ruin my life again.”

“He’s not your father,” Reid said as he sat down his beer.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Holden’s my dad in every way that matters. I’ve heard that my entire life.”

“No, I mean it. Damian’s not your father.”

Luke looked at him. “What are you talking about?”

“When we went over to the farm to tell your family that we are expecting twins, I noticed the look on everyone’s face when your grandmother said that you reminded her of Holden. The next day when I went in to the hospital I did some digging. There wasn’t a paternity test run on you when you were born. At least not anything that’s on file at Memorial.”

“My mom said they had figured out after I was born that Damian was my father,” Luke argued.

“Like Janet figured out that Jack was Lorenzo’s father before he was born?” Reid asked as he gave Luke a look.

“What are you saying?” Luke asked as he sat up a little. “Are you saying there’s a possibility that I’m not really Damian’s son?”

“Yes, I’m saying it’s a possibility,” Reid said as he took the mug from Luke’s hands and set it on the floor. He took Luke’s hands and looked him in the eye. “I know it doesn’t do anything to reduce the current danger you may be in, but I think it’s something we should look into.”

“I don’t know. What if we do a paternity test and find out that Damian really is my father?”

“Then nothing has changed. It’s something we should talk to Lily and Holden about, but not tonight. Tonight you need to relax. Tomorrow, we’ll deal with Damian and what we have to do to make sure you and the babies are safe.”

Luke nodded and let Reid lead him into the living room. He took his tea from Reid and began to drink it. He thought about what Reid had said and realized he was right. Janet had been wrong about who her baby’s father was because of a guesstimated age of the baby. Maybe his mother had been wrong when he was born. He knew he couldn’t get his hopes up though. It wouldn’t do him any good to start thinking that Holden as his biological father and have it turn out not to be true.

The next day Luke and Reid went over to Lily and Holden’s house and Reid told them what he suspected. Lily and Holden looked at each other. Both of them had thought about the possibility over the years but neither of them had suggested a paternity test for fear it would not show the results they wanted. They agreed to do the testing and agreed to meet at the hospital later that day. 

Reid oversaw the testing. He was having the lab at Memorial do the test but he also sent the samples to an independent lab in Chicago. He thought with two sets of results no one could say that the samples were tampered with. This meant that it would be a week before they knew for sure who Luke’s father was.

The next few days passed without any incident. Luke had almost forgotten that Damian had escaped until he got home and saw the patrol car slowly pass the house. He sighed as he went in and set down his backpack. The semester was almost over and for that he was grateful. He knew when the new semester started he would be taking classes online because his due date would be closing in. 

Lily had heard from Lucinda. She had heard about Damian’s escape and was ready to send a platoon of body guards to protect her family. Lily assured her that wasn’t necessary. She told her mother that the Oakdale PD was doing a good job of making sure that everyone was watched over.

Luke shook his head as he thought about his grandmother. He knew she wanted to come straight back to Oakdale. She had been with John for over a year. They had gotten married again and had taken a private cruise that they had just gotten back from. Neither one of them were attempting to retire. Lucinda kept in contact with Dusty and ran Worldwide from her new home in Baltimore as John continued his work at Johns Hopkins. Luke hoped he and Reid had that much drive when they grew older.

Luke headed to the kitchen and just hoped he would get older. He didn’t know what would happen with Damian. All he knew was it had been almost a week since he had found out that Damian had escaped from prison and the police didn’t seem to be any closer to finding him. He had just opened the refrigerator door when he thought he heard something down the hall. “Reid?” he called as he headed to the hall. “Reid, is that you? I thought you were still at the hospital.”

As Luke walked, he carefully pulled out his cell phone and dialed Jack’s number. “Jack, there’s someone in the house,” he said softly.

“Are you sure it’s not Reid?” Jack asked.

“No, his car’s not in the driveway. Whoever it is sounds like they’re in the nursery.”

“Okay, get out of the house. The patrol car is on its way back to your house. Go outside and wait on them. I’m on my way.”

Luke hung up and quietly made his way toward the front door. He had almost reached the front door when he heard “Hello son.”


	7. Chapter 7

Luke stopped where he was and didn’t turn around. “Damian.”

“I like your house.”

“What are you doing here?” Luke asked as he tried to figure out how long it would take him to run to the door.

“Aren’t you going to turn around and face me?”

“I was just going out,” Luke said. “I need to get to class.”

Luke saw his backpack was at his feet and reached down to grab it. He could hear Damian coming closer. He wasn’t sure where he had gotten the strength from but he took the backpack and swung it around. He hit Damian in the face and dropped the backpack. He ran as fast as he could holding his hand under his stomach. He made it out the front door as the patrol car pulled into the driveway. “Damian Grimaldi is in my house!” Luke shouted as the officers ran into the house.

Luke leaned against the patrol car and tried to catch his breath as Jack pulled up. Jack ran over to the younger man. “Luke, are you all right?”

Luke just nodded as he heard gunshots come from his house. Jack looked from him to the house. “Damian’s in there,” Luke said as Jack pulled out his gun. 

“Go get in my car and stay there,” Jack told him. “Make sure the doors are locked.”

Luke nodded as he headed to the car. He got in and made sure the doors were locked and the windows were up. He also tried not to panic as he felt a contraction. It felt like an eternity before Jack came back out of the house. He had a grim look on his face as he approached his car. Luke unlocked the doors just as Jack got there. Jack opened the door and looked at Luke. “Damian’s dead. He made it as far as your backyard before my officers caught up with him.”

Luke just nodded then gasped. “Luke? What’s wrong?”

“I’m having contractions,” Luke said as he tried not to sound as scared as he felt. He was only seven and a half months pregnant. He knew if he gave birth now, his babies would be in trouble.

The look on Jack’s face told him that the older man felt the same way. “Okay, I’ll get an ambulance here and get you to the hospital. It’s going to be all right Luke, I promise.”

Luke just nodded as Jack called for the ambulance and for the coroner. He wanted Jack to go with him to the hospital but he wasn’t sure the detective would be able to get away from what was now a crime scene. As the ambulance arrived, Luke looked at Jack. “Can you go with me?”

Jack looked up and saw that Margo had arrived. “Yeah, okay. Let me tell Margo what’s going on. That will give the paramedics time to get you ready to go to the hospital. Have you had any more contractions?”

Luke just nodded and Jack bent down in front of him. “We’re going to get you to the hospital in time. Those babies aren’t going anywhere for a long time. And when we get there, I’ll make sure Reid gets to you and I’ll call your mom and dad.”

“Yeah, sure,” Luke said as the paramedics and Margo got to them. 

Jack stepped aside and filled Margo in on the situation. He told her that Luke wanted Jack to go with him to the hospital and she agreed that it was a good idea. She would talk to the officers at the scene and come and get his and Luke’s statements at the hospital. She silently hoped that Luke and his twins would be all right.

Jack continued to try and reassure Luke as the ambulance raced to the hospital. The paramedics were optimistic because the contractions were sporadic but he still needed to get to the hospital and get checked out. Dr. Kane was waiting for them when they arrived and rushed Luke to an exam room. Jack went over to a nurse. “Can you find Dr. Oliver for me? That’s his partner they just took into the exam room. He needs to be informed.”

“Yes sir,” she said as she stepped away from Jack.

Jack pulled his phone out and dialed Holden’s number. “Holden, you and Lily need to get to the hospital right away.”

“What’s wrong?” Holden asked.

“Damian showed up at Luke’s house. Luke got away, Damian didn’t hurt him, but Luke started having contractions.”

“Is he going to be all right?”

“The paramedics were optimistic. I just sent a nurse to get Reid. Is Faith here today?”

“I think she is.”

“All right, I’ll make sure she hears what’s going on from me,” Jack said as he saw Reid come off the elevator.

“Jack what the hell happened?” Reid asked as he approached the older man. “Some nurse just called me and told me that my partner had been brought into the ER.”

Jack sighed. “Luke called me and told me someone was in the house. I told him to get out and I was sending the patrol car back to the house. They had just made their sweep. I don’t know what happened in the house, but Damian was in there. Luke somehow managed to get out of the house. When I got there he was leaning against the patrol car and the officers were chasing Damian. I told Luke to get in my car and lock the doors. Damian’s dead, Reid.”

“I don’t care about Damian. Why has Luke been brought to the ER?”

“He started having contractions.”

That was all Jack got out before Reid took off for the exam room. Jack had the nurse who had called Reid track down Faith for him as he waited for Holden and Lily. 

Reid opened the door to the exam room and saw Luke lying on the table. He went over to Luke and took his hand. “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” Luke said as he tried to smile. “Dr. Kane gave me something to stop the contractions.”

Reid looked at the doctor. Dr. Kane looked at the Chief of Staff. “I’m keeping an eye on the twins’ heartbeats. They are strong. There are no signs of distress. The contractions have stopped. I’d like to keep him here overnight for observation.”

Reid nodded and pulled a stool up beside the bed. “You see, everything’s going to be all right.”

Luke nodded. “Damian’s dead.”

“I know, Jack told me. Don’t worry about him right now. Just rest.”

“Yeah, okay,” Luke said as he closed his eyes.

Reid looked at the doctor. “How long before you get him admitted into a room?”

“We’re about to take him up now,” Dr. Kane told him as Reid stood up.

“Okay. I’m going to go see if his parents are here then I’ll meet you upstairs.”

Reid leaned over and kissed Luke’s forehead before he left the room. He found not only Lily and Holden waiting for him, but Faith, Jack and Emma. “Okay, they’re admitting Luke overnight for observation, but the contractions have stopped and the babies aren’t in distress. I would imagine if Luke can get through the next 24 hours without having any more contractions, we’re out of the woods. I’m not sure if Dr. Kane will put him on bed rest, but I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“When can we see him?” Lily asked.

“Let them get him settled in a room and let me make sure he’s not going to get upset. He’s going to ask about Damian. Could someone do me a favor and call Chris? He can get in touch with the labs and get those test results. I know finding out will take some of the stress off of Luke and the rest of us. Let’s go upstairs.”

They followed Reid to the elevator. As he went in to check on Luke, Holden called Chris and gave him Reid’s request. Chris promised to get in touch with the labs and come see them as soon as he got the results. The Snyders had been waiting about ten minutes before Reid came out and motioned them in the room. 

Luke had two monitors attached to him keeping an eye on the babies’ heartbeats. He still had an IV in his arm. But he didn’t look like he was in any pain and he didn’t seem to be having any contractions. He smiled when he saw his family. “Hi guys. I’m sorry I caused all this drama.”

“Oh, Luke, you have nothing to be sorry for,” Lily said as she went over to her son and took his hand. “The only thing that matters is that you and those precious babies are going to be all right.”

Jack stepped closer to the bed. “Luke, I hate to ask you this, but what happened after you got off the phone with me.”

Luke took a deep breath and told what happened as he tried to leave the house. By the time he had finished, Lily had tears in her eyes. “Mom, I’m okay.”

“I know, Baby,” Lily said as she wiped her eyes. “I just feel like this is all my fault. If I had never gone to Malta in the first place, I would have never met Damian and this would have never happened.”

“Mom, if you hadn’t gone to Malta, I might not be here,” Luke said as he avoided Holden’s eyes.

Reid shook his head before Faith could say anything. He knew she believed the test results would say that Holden was Luke’s father just as much as Reid did, but he didn’t want her to upset her brother by starting an argument now. There was a knock on the door and Chris poked his head in. “Chris, come on in,” Luke said as he smiled at his friend.

“How are you feeling?” Chris asked.

“Better than I was,” Luke admitted. “Sorry that I scared everyone.”

Chris just shrugged. “Let’s just call it a practice run.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Chris looked at Reid. “I got those test results you wanted.”

“And?” Reid asked.

Everyone turned their attention to Chris. “Both labs concur with near 100% certainty. Luke’s father is without a doubt Holden Snyder.”

“I knew it!” Faith said as she hugged her father and went over to Luke and gave him the best hug she could.

Luke looked up at Holden as Faith let him go. “Hi Dad,” he grinned.

Holden smiled at him. “Hi Son.”

Emma just laughed. “Somehow I knew you were really a Snyder. I just didn’t know how to prove it.”

Luke laughed then he yawned. Reid noticed and turned to the Snyders. “The medication to relax Luke and stop the contractions is making him tired. He’ll probably fall asleep in a minute. Why don’t you go and check on Ethan and Natalie and I’ll call you if anything happens. We can celebrate the test results another day.”

“Reid’s right,” Emma said as she looked at her grandson. “Luke looks exhausted and someone needs to go clean up their house. That is if your officers are through with it, Jack.”

“I’ll check in with Margo and find out,” Jack said as he headed for the door. “I’ll also let Carly know what’s going on. She’s probably going to stop by the house if that’s okay Lily.”

“I know she’s going to want to check on us,” Lily smiled. “Tell her I’ll call her soon.”

Jack nodded and looked back at Luke and Reid. “I’ll try to find out how Damian got into the house.”

“You do that,” Reid said as he gave the older man a look.

Chris looked at Reid after Jack left. “I’ll cover for you. And I’ll let Katie know what’s going on. You know if I don’t and she finds out from someone else, there will be hell to pay.”

Reid nodded as Lily and Emma both gave Luke kisses on the cheek before they left with Holden and Faith. After everyone had left the room, Reid pulled a chair up to the bed and took Luke’s hand. “Get some sleep.”

“I will in a minute,” Luke said softly. “Reid, you have to know that if I had any clue that Damian had been in the house, I would have never have gone in the house.”

“I know. Luke, none of this is your fault. If anyone’s to blame, it’s the officers who didn’t spot someone suspicious going into our house. I thought those patrols were supposed to make sure he didn’t get into the house.”

“Damian was clever,” Luke said as he yawned. “He probably snuck in between patrols. I should have just left the house when I thought I heard someone in the nursery. I shouldn’t have said anything. If I hadn’t, he might not have known that I was in the house. Then I wouldn’t have put the babies at risk.”

“You didn’t put the babies at risk, Damian did. You did everything you could to make sure you got out of the house and away from the danger. The contractions were probably caused by the stress you were under, yes, but that wasn’t your fault.”

Luke just nodded as his eyes stared to close. “Sleep now,” Reid said as he brushed back Luke’s hair. “That’s what you and the babies need the most. I’ll be here when you wake up.”


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, Luke was released from the hospital. He was ordered to spend the next week on bed rest though. The doctor told Luke he didn’t have to stay confined to bed. He could rest on the couch, but he couldn’t engage in any activity that would be the least bit strenuous. Luke protested saying he had finals. Reid told him not to worry about it, he would make arraignments for Luke to be able to take his finals at home.

Katie came over the day after he was released from the hospital. She said she hadn’t wanted to overwhelm him right after he was released. She sent Reid to work and made sure that Luke was comfortable on the couch. Between Katie and Emma, Luke didn’t have to worry about anything that week. The university sent over a graduate student to proctor Luke’s finals to ensure no one helped him with his finals.

The next week, after Luke’s doctor’s appointment, Reid and Luke went to the farm where Emma had dinner waiting for them. It was a small celebration of the fact that Luke was Holden’s biological son. Holden and Lily had decided to explain what was going on to Natalie, but they would wait to tell Ethan the whole story until he was older.

Reid and Luke had also decided that they would go ahead and tell their family the sexes of the babies. After the scare they had, they decided it would be better not to wait until the baby shower. Emma had got up to get the cake she had made when there was a knock at the door. Faith went to answer it and found John and Lucinda standing there. “Hello my darling,” Lucinda said as she hugged her granddaughter.

“Grandmother!” Faith said. “We didn’t know you were coming.”

“How could I not?” Lucinda asked as she and John came into the house. She went straight to Luke. “Oh my precious boy, I am so relieved to hear that you’re all right. And may I say how relieved I am that that awful Damian Grimaldi is finally out of our lives forever.”

“Mother, we were just about to have some cake,” Lily said as she gave Lucinda a look. “Would you and John like some?”

“I for one would love a slice of cake,” John said as he smiled at Emma.

“Well have a seat John,” Emma said as she sliced the cake. “You too, Lucinda.”

Emma served the cake and as everyone started to eat, Reid cleared his throat. “Everyone, Luke and I decided that there have been enough secrets. So we decided that we would let you in on one we’ve been keeping for a couple of months now.”

“What’s that?” Holden asked.

“We know the sexes of the babies.”

“I thought you said you were going to wait to find out,” Lily said to Luke.

“We were going to surprise everyone at the baby shower,” Luke admitted. “But after what happened, we decided we would go ahead and tell you guys.”

“So, tell us already,” Faith prompted.

Luke grinned. “One of each.”

Ethan furrowed his brow. “What does that mean?”

“It means Luke and Reid are going to have a little boy and a little girl,” Lily told her youngest son.

“Oh, okay.”

Holden laughed as Lily and Emma hugged Luke. The family celebrated the pending additions. Just before Reid and Luke left the farmhouse, Emma hugged her grandson and promised him that she would have baby blankets finished by the time the babies arrived.

A month later, Reid was hoping for an emergency at the hospital as Katie and Allison set up the decorations for the baby shower. Allison and Casey had arrived from Carbondale the day before so that they could come to the baby shower. Will and Gwen would be there for the shower as well. Luke and Casey came in the living room from the nursery and laughed at the look on Reid’s face. “What?” Reid asked.

“You look terrified,” Luke said as he went up to his partner.

“It’s a baby shower, Luke.”

“Dude, you knew this was going to happen eventually,” Casey said as he joined them. “It’s not like I can sneak you out of the house and go to Yo’s. Your presence is required as the father of these babies.”

“Luke’s the father too,” Reid argued.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about that,” Luke said as he went to sit down. “I realize it will be confusing if the babies call both of us Daddy. So I thought about it and I thought it would be okay if the babies call me Poppy.”

“Poppy?” Reid asked as he gave Luke a look. “Where did you get that from?”

“One of the guys in my Sociology class suggested it. He said that’s what he calls his birth father.”

Reid just nodded as the door bell rang. He answered it and let in Gwen and Will. Holden and Lily weren’t too far behind them. Carly, Jack, Dusty, Janet, Chris, Lucinda, John, Emma, Faith, Parker, Ethan, Natalie, Tom, Margo, Bob and Kim made up the rest of the guest list. Kim brought presents with them from Barbara and Henry as well as Paul and Emily.

The party was in full swing when the doorbell rang again. Luke looked at Reid. “I thought everyone was here.”

“So did I,” Reid said as he got up. He opened the door and was visibly surprised by who he saw there. “Mr. Mayer, what are you doing here?”

“I saw on the news that Damian had escaped from jail and had been killed,” Noah explained from the doorway. “I thought I would come see how Luke’s handling it.”

“Now is not a good time,” Reid said as he started to shut the door.

Noah stopped him. “Let’s let Luke be the judge of that.”

“Reid, who is it?” Luke called from the living room.

Reid sighed and let Noah in. He stopped his former rival before they got to the living room. “Whatever you do, don’t upset him.”

Noah just gave him a look as they went into the living room. To say he was surprised by what he found there was an understatement. Luke looked up as he entered the room. “Noah!”

“Hi Luke,” Noah said as everyone turned their attention to him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I heard about Damian.”

Luke just nodded then looked at Emma. “Grandma, can you get Noah something to drink? He looks like he needs it.”

“Of course sweetheart,” Emma said as she got up.

Holden caught the look Luke gave him. “Reid, why don’t we show everyone the nursery?”

“You show them,” Reid said as he kept his eyes on Noah. “I’ll stay here with Luke.”

Holden sighed and led the party goers out of the living room and down the hall. Reid walked over to Luke. “I can tell him to leave if you want me to.”

“No, it’s okay,” Luke smiled. “Noah, have a seat.”

“I can see I’m interrupting a party,” Noah said as he looked around.

“Baby shower actually,” Reid said as he gave Noah a look.

“I can see that.”

“Reid,” Luke said as he reached out and took his partner’s arm. “Why don’t you go help Grandma in the kitchen? I’ll be all right, I promise. Noah and I parted as friends, and he’s here as a friend. Isn’t that right Noah?”

“Of course,” Noah said as he sat down across from Luke.

Reid stood there for a minute then headed to the kitchen. After he was gone, Luke looked at Noah. “Why are you here?”

“I heard about Damian.”

“Ah, I forgot that made the news.”

“Yeah. It wasn’t a huge story but it caught my attention. I would have been here sooner but I was working on a new film. Luke, I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have to be.”

“He was your father.”

“No, he wasn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“Reid had a DNA test run on me and my dad. Turns out I’m really a Snyder after all.”

“Wow,” Noah said surprised. 

“Yeah, wow,” Luke sighed. “I guess it was just confirmation of what we’ve known all along.”

“Yeah, I can see that. I always thought you were more like Holden than Damian anyway. So you and Reid…”

“Reid and I are permanent,” Luke said as he gave Noah a look. “We were already committed to each other when we bought this house. This was something we both wanted.”

Noah looked at where Luke’s hand rested. “You never told me that this was a possibility.”

“We weren’t ready,” Luke sighed. “I’m not sure we would have been ready.”

“I thought we were committed to each other,” Noah argued.

“We were, in a way,” Luke agreed. “Tell me Noah, could you picture yourself living in Oakdale the rest of your life? Could you picture giving up your dream to stay here? Because I can’t see myself living in LA. As much as we loved each other, I’m not sure we would have lasted. If I had told you that it was possible for me to get pregnant, you would have left sooner.”

“You don’t know that,” Noah said as he got up.

“Yes I do. Sometimes I think we knew each other better than we knew ourselves. You don’t want to be a father. You’re too afraid of turning out like your father. Noah, there’s a part of me that still loves you, that will always love you. Just like there’s a part of my mom that will always love Dusty. She wasn’t meant to be with Dusty anymore than we were meant to be together. If we had been, then we would have never pushed each other away after your accident.”

Noah nodded. He started to leave, then he turned around. “All I want to know is that he makes you happy. You’re still my friend and that’s important to me.”

Luke grinned. “Yeah, he makes me happy. And he’s going to be a good father to our children.”

Noah’s eyes got big. “Children?”

Luke laughed. “Yeah, we’re having twins. Look, Noah, you don’t have to leave. Stay, you have friends here who would like to know how things are going for you in LA. I know I am one of them.”

“Yeah okay,” Noah smiled as Reid and Emma came out of the kitchen.

“Here you are Noah dear,” Emma said as she gave Noah a drink and everyone came back into the living room.

“Thank you Mrs. Snyder,” Noah smiled.

They started opening presents again when Luke grabbed Reid’s arm. Reid looked at him. “Luke, what’s wrong?”

“My water just broke,” Luke said as he tried to stay calm.


	9. Chapter 9

Reid just sat there for a minute as Chris and Bob came over to them. “Have you had any contractions?” Chris asked.

“No, not yet,” Luke said as Reid blinked.

“Okay,” Reid said as he got up. “No contractions yet. We still have plenty of time. Sorry everyone, but the party’s over.”

He turned to Luke and held his hand out. “We better get going.”

“What about my bag?” Luke asked as Reid helped him up.

“It’s already in the car.”

“We’ll take care of everything here,” Katie said as Luke and Reid headed for the door. 

“Thanks Katie,” Luke said. 

They had just reached the car when Luke had his first contraction. Reid coached him through it then got him in the car. Chris promised to call the doctor for them so Reid didn’t have to worry about that as he drove. Reid managed to get them there in one piece even though Luke’s contractions were starting to pick up. It was like his body figured that since his water had broken it was past time to get the show on the road.

They arrived at the hospital and Dr. Kane was waiting for them. He took them straight to the maternity ward. After a brief examination, he looked up at the couple. “Okay, you’re at 4 already. Were you experiencing any type of back pain or anything that you might not have thought was a contraction before your water broke?”

Luke thought about it for a minute. “Yeah, my back’s been bothering me for most of the day. But I just thought that was the weight of the babies. It didn’t feel any different from the back pain I’ve felt before.”

“Yeah, but Luke, the back pain hasn’t been all day before,” Reid mentioned. “I would imagine you’ve been experiencing back labor.”

“Sounds about right to me,” Dr. Kane said as he stood up. “I don’t think it will be a long wait until the first baby arrives from the way you’re progressing. I’ll be back to check on you. In the meantime, how ever you feel like going through the labor is up to you.”

Luke nodded as a contraction started. Reid coached him through it. When it was over, Reid kept his hand on Luke’s back. “Do you want an epidural?”

Luke shook his head. "I don't want to mess with anything near my spine. I told you about when I was paralyzed."

“Are you sure? You’re going to be in a lot of pain before all is said and done.”

“I’m sure,” Luke said as he looked up at Dr. Kane. “Is it all right if I walk around a bit?”

“As long as you feel up to it, it should be fine,” the doctor said as he headed out of the room. “Either I or the nurse will be in to check on you soon.”

“Thanks,” Luke said as he sat up. “Help me up.”

Reid helped him out of the bed and they walked around the room. After about an hour, Luke was tired of walking and his family had arrived. Luke agreed to see them but didn’t want them in the room for very long. Holden and Lily came in to check on their son before they joined the rest of the family in the waiting room. 

By the time they had been there four hours, Luke was beginning to reconsider his aversion to the epidural. He was also beginning to feel like he had to push. “Reid, page the doctor.”

“What’s wrong?” Reid asked as he held Luke’s hand.

“I need to push.” 

Reid grabbed the call button for the nurse and practically ripped it out of the wall. The nurse came in and he told her they needed the doctor. She paged the doctor and checked Luke’s progress. The doctor came in and gave Luke a quick exam. “Okay, Luke, it looks like the first baby is ready to make his or her appearance. Whenever you’re ready, you can push.”

Luke started to push and managed to curse Reid’s name a few times as he did so. After about 30 minutes of pushing, the baby’s head appeared. “Okay, Luke, give me a nice big push and your first baby will be here.”

Luke screamed as he pushed. He felt the baby slip from his body as he sagged against Reid. “Gentlemen, meet your son,” Dr. Kane said as he held the baby up and placed him on Luke’s stomach. “Dr. Oliver, would you like to cut the cord?”

“Yeah sure,” Reid said as he moved away from Luke. He couldn’t take his eyes off the baby until he got to where the doctor was holding the scissors. He cut the cord and rejoined Luke and their son. 

“Reid, he’s perfect,” Luke grinned.

“Yeah he is,” Reid said in awe. He couldn’t believe that he and Luke had made this little person. And there was still a baby girl waiting to be born.

As if she knew her father was thinking about her, Luke let out a gasp as he felt a contraction indicating their daughter was tired of waiting her turn. The nurse took the baby from Luke as Reid coached Luke through the contraction. Dr. Kane let two more contractions pass before he instructed Luke to push again.

Luke was visibly tired, but he was also determined. Soon enough his efforts were rewarded and they heard their daughter cry for the first time. Dr. Kane placed her on Luke’s stomach and Reid once again cut the cord. They marveled at their daughter before the nurse took her to be examined and cleaned as she had done for the baby’s brother.

“Dr. Oliver, why don’t you tell the crowd gathered in the waiting room that the twins have arrived?” Dr. Kane suggested. “We’ll get Luke cleaned up and settled into bed.”

Reid looked at Luke. “Do you want me to go?”

“Yeah, go ahead,” Luke smiled. “Tell everyone who will listen that you’re a daddy.”

Reid grinned as he leaned down and kissed Luke. “I’ll be right back.”

He headed to the waiting room and saw the same people he had left at the baby shower. “It’s a boy, and a girl,” he grinned. “Luke’s fine. He’s exhausted, which is to be expected. They’re getting the babies cleaned up and checked out. I don’t think there are any problems, but they are a couple of weeks early.”

“Yeah, but that’s to be expected with twins,” Chris said. “As their pediatrician, I should follow you back to make sure everything’s okay.”

“Thanks Doogie,” Reid said as Chris joined him. “I’ll come get you as soon as Luke’s ready for visitors.”

“Reid, what are the babies’ names?” Lily asked.

“Oh no,” he said as he held his hands up. “I’m not spilling that information. Luke would kill me. When you see him, then you’ll know the names of your grandchildren. Come on Chris.”

Reid left Chris with the nurse and the babies as he resumed his place at Luke’s side. “Chris is giving his seal of approval on the twins.”

“Good,” Luke said as he yawned a little. “Who knew having two babies would be so exhausting.”

“Yeah, well, get some sleep while you can. Your family is chomping at the bit to get back here and see you and our babies. Oh, and your mother asked me what their names were. I told her you would tell them because I wasn’t facing the punishment for spilling the beans.”’

“Good,” Luke laughed a little. “How’s your hand?”

“It’s fine,” Reid said as he flexed it a little. “It’s a good thing I don’t have any surgeries scheduled for a couple of days though.” 

Luke nodded as he drifted off to sleep. The nurse and Chris came in with the babies. Reid looked up at his former rival. “How are they?”

“They’re perfect,” Chris smiled. “Never thought you could produce anything so cute.”

“That’s all Luke’s doing. I don’t do cute and you know it.”

Chris laughed and headed for the door. “I’ll keep the crowd at bay while Luke gets some sleep.”

Reid just nodded and watched him leave. Then he pulled the two bassinets over to his chair. He smiled as he saw the two babies lying there, one in a blue blanket, the other in a pink blanket. “Like we wouldn’t have been able to tell there was one of each without color coded blankets.”

He reached out and touched both babies. “Wonder what good old Angus would say if he could see me now. No failure here. Okay you two, time for introductions. I’m your dad. That guy over there asleep in the bed, he’s your other dad. But since he’s the one who gave birth to you, he wants you to call him Poppy. I guess I can live with that. And let me tell you something about your Poppy. He loves us. You two I can understand. You’re his kids. He carried you for nearly nine months and he’s done everything he can to make sure you got here safe and healthy. Me? Well, I never have figured out why he loves me. I’m not the easiest guy to like, let alone love. But I guess he found something in me to love or you two wouldn’t be here. And I for one am glad you are here. I never thought I would be a dad. He…Heck, I never thought I’d fall in love with someone then I met your Poppy. He changed me and I’ll let you in on a little secret, I’m glad he did. We’re going to ask Chris and Katie to be your godparents. They don’t know that yet. There’s something I haven’t told your Poppy, but I’ll tell you guys. Katie is like a sister to me and I would do anything for her. That’s why I went and fought with a stupid doctor to get a heart for Chris. I couldn’t stand to see her heart broken. I’m going to make you two a promise. I may turn out to be a terrible dad, I don’t know. I’m devoted to my job. I love to save lives and I have no problem letting people know how brilliant I am. But I promise you this, I will do the best I can not to be a terrible dad. I will listen to you guys and let you follow your dreams, no matter what they are. I will love you with everything I have in me, just like I do your Poppy. And I will do everything in my power to make sure that your hearts don’t get broken by anything I do.”

He got up and leaned over his daughter’s bassinet and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Then he repeated the gesture with his son. He glanced over at Luke’s bed. “How long have you been awake?”

Luke smiled. “Long enough. And I’ll tell you something right now, you’re going to be a great dad. Have you held them yet?”

“I was waiting for you to wake up,” Reid said as he picked up their son. “He’s the picture of health according to Chris. And so’s his sister.”

He handed the baby to Luke then picked up their daughter. “You know this is going to be weird for me.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t change a diaper until I moved in with Katie. And I don’t know if you noticed this or not but Jacob’s a boy.”

Luke laughed a little. “Yeah, I guess that would make a difference. To tell you the truth, I’ve never changed a baby girl’s diaper either. I helped Dad out when Ethan was born because Mom was in a coma. This will be a new experience for both of us.”

Reid nodded. Then he placed their daughter in Luke’s other arm. “I think I should let in the horde.”

“They’re not that bad.”

Reid gave him a look and left to go to the waiting room. He told everyone to follow him and they made their way back to Luke’s room. As soon as Lily and Katie entered the room, they went straight to Luke and the babies. “Oh, Luke, they’re so beautiful,” Lily gushed.

“They are adorable,” Katie said as she gazed at the babies. “What are their names?”

Reid caught the look that Luke gave him and picked up their daughter and handed her to Lily. Luke handed Holden their son, then he smiled. “Reid and I thought about names for a long time. Almost from the moment we found out I was pregnant. When we found out that we were having one of each, we knew what the perfect names would be for our children. We would like for you to meet Matthew Holden Snyder-Oliver and Elizabeth Lily Snyder-Oliver.”

“Just for the record, my parents’ names were Matthew and Elizabeth,” Reid said as Lily felt tears come to her eyes.

“Well, I know that Holden and I are honored to have our grandchildren named after us,” she said as she smiled at Reid. “Just as I’m sure your parents would be.”

Reid just nodded as he sat on the bed beside Luke and the twins were passed around. Eventually everyone finished gushing over the babies. Holden and Lily had already been told that Reid and Luke were going to ask Chris and Katie to be the babies’ godparents. They also knew that the couple wanted to do it privately so after the babies were handed back to their parents, they ushered their family out. Before he left the room, Holden turned back to his son. “The Hughes’ said they would stop by later. They didn’t want you to be overwhelmed with visitors right away. Casey and Allison wanted to make sure you knew they were coming by before they had to go back to Carbondale.”

Luke nodded as his father left the room. Then he turned to their friends. Katie and Chris had come to mean a lot to Luke in the last year. He hadn’t really hung out with Katie while Brad had been alive. He still remembered that there was a time she tried to steal Holden away from Lily. But they had talked about it and agreed that they had both grown up since then. And there had been part of him that had blamed Chris for the breakup of Aaron and Allison’s marriage. But he realized that Allison and Casey had been meant for each other, just like Chris and Katie and him and Reid. He also knew that Aaron was planning a trip to Montega to try and see if there was still anything between him and Lucy.  
Now Katie, Chris, Reid and Luke were the best of friends. It was hard to believe, but it was true. Luke smiled at Reid. “You ask them.”

Reid gave him a look. He turned to the couple in front of them. “Luke and I were wondering if you two would do us the honor of being the twins’ godparents.”

Chris looked at Katie then back at the two men in front of them. “You’re serious?”

“Very,” Reid said as he looked Chris straight in the eye. The two doctors were becoming closer but there was still a bit of a rivalry between them. Bob likened it to the friendship that had formed between him and John Dixon over the years. 

Katie grinned. “We would be honored.”

Later that night, Luke and the babies were sleeping and Reid had gone up to his office to grab some patient files he needed to go over. While he was gone, Noah slipped into Luke’s room. He saw that his former boyfriend was asleep and walked over and softly kissed his forehead. Then he went over and looked at the babies. He thought about what could have been and realized that he had blown it with Luke. If he hadn’t pushed Luke away, they might still be together. Then again, maybe Luke was right and he wasn’t ready for this kind of commitment.

He quietly walked out of the room and shut the door. He was just about to walk down the hall to leave when he saw Reid standing there. “Mr. Mayer.”

“Dr. Oliver,” Noah said as he gave Reid a look. “Shouldn’t you be in there?”

“I just had to pick up some files that needed to be signed off for the morning,” Reid said as he held up the files. “Not that I need to explain myself to you.”

“No, I suppose you don’t,” Noah agreed. 

“So what are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to see the babies before I left.”

“So you waited until Luke was asleep?”

Noah sighed. “I thought it would be easier that way. I don’t want to hurt him any more than I have already. I know now that I pushed him away, you didn’t have to work too hard to win his heart.”

“That’s where you’re wrong Mr. Mayer,” Reid said as he moved closer to Noah. “You broke his heart. You were his first love and you blew it. All you had to do was let him help you, but you couldn’t even do that. I made a promise a few hours ago to do everything in my power to make sure he is never hurt again. I made that same promise to our children. I hope you find happiness someday.”

Noah nodded and started to walk away. “You’re a lucky man, Dr. Oliver. Don’t ever forget it.”

“I don’t plan to,” Reid said as he watched Noah walk away. He went back into Luke’s room and sat down in the chair by the bed. He started working on the files. He had only finished one file when the events of the day distracted him again. He was a father. And not to just one baby, but to two. When he thought about that fact, it scared him. He wasn’t sure that he would be able to be the kind of father Luke expected him to be. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could be the kind of father that he expected himself to be. But as he gazed at his sleeping babies, he knew he had to do his best. He couldn’t fail them or Luke.

Elizabeth started to cry and he put down his files and picked her up. “Hey, what’s all the noise for? Your Poppy and your brother are trying to sleep.”

“She’s probably hungry,” Luke’s tired voice came from the bed. “Bring her here. Then you better get Matthew. He’ll be awake sooner rather than later.”

Reid nodded and handed Luke their daughter. By the time he picked up Matthew, Luke was already feeding Elizabeth. Reid waited until both babies had been fed before he spoke. “I’ve been thinking about something for a while now.”

“What’s that?” Luke asked as they got the babies ready to go back to sleep.

“Commitment.”

Luke laughed. “Reid, I think it’s pretty obvious that we’re committed to each other. I mean, I did just give birth to your children.”

“I know that. But I was thinking about something more.”

“Like what?” Luke asked as he sat up a little.

“Like marriage.”

“Marriage? Are you serious?”

“Very serious.”

“How long have you been thinking about it?”

“Since I got back from Bay City with Chris’s new heart. I just didn’t have the nerve to ask you before. But the more I thought about it, the more I knew that I want to marry you. I want to be more than just your partner, I want to be your husband.”

“And this isn’t just because I got pregnant?” Luke asked skeptically.

“No, it’s not,” Reid promised. “Like I said, I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. Even before you got pregnant. So what do you say, Mr. Snyder? Will you marry me?”

Luke grinned. “I would be honored Dr. Oliver.”

Reid leaned over and kissed him. He sat back down in the chair and looked at Luke. "You should get some sleep."

“What about you?” Luke said as he yawned. “You need some sleep too. We’re not going to get much sleep once we get those two home.”

“I’m a doctor, I’m used to not getting much sleep,” Reid grinned. “I’ll be okay, Luke. I’ll just finish working on these files then I’ll sleep in this chair.”

“You could always climb in the bed with me.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Cause a nurse could come in and catch us. I have a reputation to uphold as a hard ass. The two babies in the room aren’t helping much, but if they caught me in bed with you, that’s end game.”

Luke just laughed. “I think the doors already shut on the hard ass part of your reputation when you stated dating me.”

Reid gave him a hard look. “You’ve corrupted me Mr. Snyder.”

“And you love me for it, Dr. Oliver,” Luke said as he drifted off to sleep.

Reid just sat there and smiled. “Yeah, yeah I do.”


	10. Chapter 10

Two days later, Luke and the twins were released from the hospital. When Reid got them home, they found a small group there to great them. The twins’ godparents, grandparents, great-grandmothers and step-great-grandfather were waiting for them. Matthew and Elizabeth were passed around once more before Luke and Reid took them to their nursery. They placed the babies in their cribs and stood back to watch them sleep. “I still can’t believe they’re here,” Luke said as Reid put an arm around him.

“Well, considering the fact that you threatened my manhood as they were being born, I can believe they’re here.”

Luke laughed and turned to face Reid. “I’ve already forgotten what I said.”

“Good,” Reid said as he kissed Luke. “We better get back out there before your grandmother thinks I’m molesting you in front of your children.”

“Grandma Emma loves you.”

“That’s not the grandmother I’m worried about.”

Luke laughed a little. “You’re scared of my grandmother.”

“Well she did take me aside just before we moved in together and told me just exactly what would happen to me and my career if I hurt you.”

“I don’t believe it,” Luke said as he left the nursery and headed to the living room. Reid had to hurry to keep up with him. He went straight to Lucinda. “Grandmother, what exactly did you say to Reid before we moved in here?”

Lucinda blinked. “Darling, I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t give me that. Reid just told me that you told him exactly what you would do to him if he ever hurt me.”

“Mother, you didn’t,” Lily said as she shook her head.

“Apparently she did,” Luke said as he never took his eyes off of his grandmother. “I am a grown man, Grandmother. I can decide who I love and who I start a family with. You are not going to treat me like you did Mom when she was my age. Hell, you are not going to treat me like you’ve treated Mom her entire life.”

“Darling, I was worried about you,” Lucinda said as she reached out and took his hand. “You had just broken up with Noah. You had barely been seeing Reid when all of a sudden you were moving in together. I just didn’t want to see you get hurt.”

“If I get hurt, that’s my problem. You don’t get to threaten Reid’s career because you think you’re protecting me. If you plan on being parts of your great-grandchildren’s lives, you will stop trying to control what happens in this house.”

Lucinda nodded and turned to Reid. “I owe you an apology. My family can tell you that I have always tried to protect my family and I never really cared about the cost. I promised Lily I would stop interfering in her life after I tried to use her to ruin Craig. I should have known better than to try and interfere with Luke’s life. He’s just like his father and Holden has never put up with my interfering ways. You are a good man Reid.”

“Thank you Mrs. Walsh,” Reid said as he gave her a look. “However, I am not the one you owe the apology to. I have thick skin, I can take it. You need to apologize to Luke.”

“Yes I do,” she agreed as she put her hand on Luke’s cheek. “My darling boy, sometimes it’s hard for me to believe that you are all grown up. Just like it’s been hard to believe that your mother is a grown woman. I have to remember that I can’t control the lives of those I love. I apologize for threatening your young man.”

“Apology accepted Grandmother,” Luke said as he gave her a smile.

Emma told them that dinner was ready and they headed to the table. “Grandma, you didn’t have to cook for us,” Luke said as she handed him his plate.”

“Nonsense, sweetheart,” Emma said as she smiled at him. “I remember what it’s like to bring a baby home for the first time. You don’t have time to think about cooking dinner. And you have two babies. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Iva, Jason and MJ will be here this weekend. They want to meet Reid and see the babies. And Seth and Angel are going to come in a couple of weeks. Ellie will be here as soon as she can get away from work.”

“If Iva’s coming here, who’s with Meg?” Holden asked.

“Josh and Cal are staying with her. When Iva gets back, they will come to visit and let us all know how Meg is doing. None of us think it’s a good idea for Meg to be around the babies.”

“I thought you said Meg was making progress,” Katie said.

“She is,” Emma sighed. “But she still misses Eliza. She knows the best thing for her daughter was to let Emily adopt her. Her doctor thinks it’s too soon for her to interact with babies though.”

They were half way through dinner when Matthew started crying. Luke excused himself and was quickly followed by Reid when Elizabeth started crying. Once the babies were fed and changed and brought out to their bassinets, Luke and Reid rejoined everyone at the table. After dinner was over Lily and Katie cleaned up as Emma, Lucinda and John said their goodbyes. Lily and Holden went and checked on their grandchildren before they went to pick the kids up from Carly and Jack’s. 

Katie and Chris spent about another hour with the new parents before they went to pick up Jacob from Lyla’s. Once they were alone, Reid and Luke sat down on the couch and snuggled close. Reid stroked Luke’s hair before he asked the questions he had been pondering since dinner. “Okay, I know who Meg is, but who are the rest of those people Emma said would be invading our house.”

Luke laughed. “Iva, Seth and Ellie are Dad’s brother and sisters. Caleb is their other brother but he’s in Seattle taking care of Julie.”

“Who’s Julie?”

“His wife. She’s also Aaron’s mother.”

“Wait a minute, your father slept with his brother’s wife?”

“Well, Julie and Caleb weren’t married at the time.”

Reid just nodded then something occurred to him. “I thought you said that Lily’s biological mother’s name is Iva.”

“Iva is Mom’s biological mother,” Luke confirmed.

“I thought we were in Illinois not Alabama.”

“Iva was adopted. So was Josh.”

“Josh? Meg’s ex-husband?”

“Yeah,” Luke said as he sat up. “Let me see if I can explain this. Grandpa Snyder’s brother’s wife had an affair with Cal and had Josh. Grandpa’s brother adopted Josh. Grandma and Grandpa thought they weren’t able to have kids after Seth so they adopted Iva. Grandma and Grandpa sent Iva to Josh’s parents’ farm when she was 13. Josh had been abused by his adopted father and took his aggressions out on Iva.”

“He raped her?”

Luke just nodded. “She was too scared to come home so she ran away and had Mom and Aunt Rose. She gave both of them up for adoption. Grandmother adopted Mom and Joe DeAngelo adopted Aunt Rose. Mom didn’t know anything about any of this until she met Dad. He was Grandmother’s stable boy. Iva started working with Craig and met Mom. She and Dad introduced Mom to the rest of the Snyders. Josh came to town and took over Dad’s job. But he went by a different name. Anyway, something happened and Iva blurted the truth out because she misunderstood a situation between Mom and Josh. Josh had to earn the family’s trust again. Frannie Hughes and Aunt Meg helped him get through what had happened to him when he was a kid and he made amends to Iva. He proved to Mom that he really did care about his daughter. When we found out about Aunt Rose, he flew up from Texas to meet his other daughter. Let me tell you, Aunt Rose wasn’t 100% sure she would forgive him for what he did to Iva, but after she talked to them and to Mom she formed a relationship with him before she died.”

“Okay, who’s Cal?” Reid asked after he took all of that in.

“He’s Josh’s biological father.”

“And Jason, MJ and Angel?”

“Jason is Iva’s husband. MJ is her son with John. And Angel is Seth’s wife.”

Reid jut nodded and hoped Luke wouldn’t ask him about his family. He was wrong. “I told you my parents died.”

“But what about other relatives? I swear I heard you say something about an Angus when you were talking to the twins after they were born.”

Reid got up and went to the kitchen. Luke got up and followed him and watched him pull out a beer. “Reid, who is Angus?”

“My uncle. He raised me after my parents died.”

“I take it you didn’t get along.”

Reid rolled his eyes. “That’s the understatement of the year.”

He looked at Luke and sighed. “You really want to know?”

“Only if you want to tell me,” Luke said as he reached over and put his hand on Reid’s arm.

Reid took a sip of his beer then he motioned for Luke to sit at the kitchen table. After they sat, Reid played with the label on his bottle before he spoke. “Angus decided that I was a chess prodigy. He pushed me to play chess and win tournaments. I blew a championship match once when I was 12 or something. He pressed the knight into my hand so hard it left a mark because he wanted me to remember what failure felt like. When I graduated medical school I sent him that knight and told him Checkmate.”

“We don’t have to tell him about us or the twins if you don’t want to,” Luke said as Reid sighed a little.

“I don’t know,” Reid sighed. “I haven’t really thought about him for years. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to reach out.”

He pulled out his phone and dialed his uncle’s number. “Angus.”

“Who is this?” came a gruff voice on the line.

“Reid.”

“What do you want, boy?”

“I called to tell you that I’m a father now. My partner and I had twins the other day. A boy and a girl. We named them after Mom and Dad.”

“So, what do you want me to do about it?”

Reid sighed. “I just thought you would want to know.”

“What do I care? I don’t even know where you’re living now.”

“I’m in Oakdale, Illinois,” Reid said as Luke squeezed his hand. “I’m Chief of Staff at a hospital that built a neurology wing to my exact specifications.”

“Oakdale, huh?” Angus said as his voice took on a vicious tone. “Figures you’d wind up there since that’s where your father’s from.”

“What are you talking about?” Reid asked as he gave Luke a look. “Dad was from New York. He was your brother after all.”

“Yeah, my brother was from New York,” Angus agreed. “But your father was from Oakdale.”


	11. Chapter 11

“What did you just say?” Reid asked as Luke touched his arm.

“Your father is from Oakdale,” Angus snarled. “Some cardiologist your slut mother cheated on my brother with. Figures they’d both die and I’d get stuck with the high and mighty John Dixon’s son.”

“I am not John Dixon’s son!” Reid shouted. “I am Matthew Oliver’s son!”

Luke took the phone from Reid. “I don’t know what kind of games you’re playing with Reid, but it’s not funny, Mr. Oliver. I suggest you forget he ever called you tonight.”

“Gladly,” Angus said as he hung up.

Reid started pacing the room as Luke set the phone down and went over to him. “Reid, you need to calm down.”

“That bastard just told me that Matthew Oliver is not my father and you want me to calm down?” Reid shouted. 

“Yes, you’re going to wake the twins up,” Luke said as Reid looked at the stairs that led to his children’s nursery. 

He broke away from Luke and rushed up the stairs. Luke hurried to follow him. He followed him into the nursery where he saw Reid staring into their son’s crib, watching him sleep. He came up and put his arm around him. “We named him after our fathers,” Reid said softly. “We named both of our children after our parents.”

“No matter what Angus said, Matthew Oliver was your father,” Luke said as he pulled him close. “Matthew was the one who was there for you from the day you were born to the day he died. Nothing Angus can say can change that. We can ignore what he said and just continue as if that conversation never happened.”

“I can’t do that,” Reid said as he looked at Luke. “I need to know for sure. I know you’re right, my dad was my dad. Just like if your DNA test had shown that Damian was your biological father, Holden would still be your dad. But what if something happens down the line and we need a medical history. If John Dixon is my father, I need to know for that reason if no other.”

“Okay, we’ll call him tomorrow,” Luke said as he led Reid out of the room. “Right now, we need to get some sleep before those two decide to wake up demanding to be fed. I think both of them inherited your appetite.”

The next morning, Luke called John and asked him to come over to the house. At Reid’s request, he called Bob as well. After both men had arrived, they told them about the conversation with Angus Oliver. John sighed. “I hate to admit it, but I might have slept with your mother, Reid.”

Reid just nodded, got up and went into the kitchen. Luke got up to follow him, but John put a hand on his shoulder. He went into the kitchen and saw Reid get a beer out of the fridge. “Isn’t it too early for that?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Reid said as he sat it down. “No offense, but I really want Matthew Oliver to be my father.”

“I understand that,” John said as he held his hands up. “I don’t want to disrupt your life. When Lucinda told me what you had named the twins, I knew the names Matthew and Elizabeth Oliver sounded familiar. They did live in Oakdale. And as much as I regret it now, I slept with my fair share of women. It ruined more than one marriage. Including my marriage to Kim. If you are my son, you wouldn’t be the first child of mine that was the result of an affair. Margo and my son Duke beat you to that.”

Luke and Bob came in then. “Are you okay?” Luke asked.

“Yeah,” Reid said as he looked at his mentor. “So, what do we do now?”

“That’s up to you and John,” Bob said as he looked at the younger man. “We can do a DNA test. We would have the results in 48 hours.”

Reid looked at John. “I will if you will.”

“I’m willing,” John said as Luke looked at them.

“What do we do about Matthew’s DNA?”

“Angus is in the system because of a bank robbery he was a suspect in,” Reid supplied. “If I’m Matthew Oliver’s son, that would show a familial match.”

“Margo can get us that information,” Bob said as he got out his phone. “I’ll call her and Susan Stewart. Susan can come get the samples from you and John so you don’t have to go down to the hospital.”

An hour later, Susan had her samples and was on the way to the hospital with them. She promised she would call them and let them know when the results were back. Reid was on edge the entire 48 hours. The only things that calmed him down where the babies. Somehow looking into the eyes of his children was like looking into the eyes of his soon to be husband. Luke would go into the kitchen to get their bottles and come back to see both of them in their father’s lap with Reid’s full attention.

When Susan finally did call, Luke thought Reid was going to jump out of his skin. He called Lily and asked her to watch the twins while he went with Reid to the hospital. Lily was more than happy to watch her grandchildren and understood why Luke needed to be with Reid for this. 

Susan looked at Reid and John before she gave them the results. “The results are conclusive. John, you’re not Reid’s father. There is a familial match between Reid and Angus Oliver.”

“Considering you couldn’t remember if you slept with my mother or not, how do you feel about this?” Reid asked John.

“I’m okay with it,” John smiled. “I might not be your father, but I would like to think I’m your friend. And I am the step-great-grandfather of your children.”

Reid laughed. “Yeah, I guess you are.”

Six months later, Reid and Luke got married. Lily and Emma held onto the twins during the ceremony. After the ceremony, Reid and Luke went on a brief honeymoon, then they took the twins to New York. Both men loved the city and they wanted to show it to their children. They also wanted to settle a score of sorts.

Luke stood with the twins in a double-stroller off to the side as Reid walked up to Angus Oliver where he played chess. He had the DNA test results in his hand. As soon as he got to Angus he tossed the papers in the older man’s face. “Guess what, Uncle Angus, I am your nephew after all.”

“What are you talking about?” Angus said as he looked at the papers. Then he grinned. “You actually believed me. You had DNA tests run?”

“I didn’t do it for my sake,” Reid said as he pointed back to his children. “I did it for theirs. They deserve to know who their family is. God help me, you’re part of that family. But get a good look at them now Angus, because that’s the last time you will see my children and my husband. Don’t ever try to contact me again. I don’t care if you are in need of my, quite frankly, brilliant surgical skills. You don’t exist as far as me or my family are concerned.”

He grabbed the papers out of Angus’s hands and went back over to his family. He kissed Luke then took control of the stroller. Luke gave Angus a look before he followed his husband. “Are you all right?”

Reid smiled at him. “I’m finally free of that man. He can never hurt me again. He can’t hurt you and he can’t hurt our children. Come on, let’s show them the zoo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it. John is not Reid's father in this story. If you were hoping for that outcome, check out my total reworking of the end of As The World Turns from Chris's illness, to Nancy's death, to Train what Train and beyond. It's called The World Keeps Turning and it has a mind of it's own.


End file.
